horrorview
09-07-2005, 02:34 PM
The Marksman (2005)
Directed by Marcus Adams
Starring Wesley Snipes, Emma Samms
Romania is now officially the Hollywood of Eastern Europe. While other penny-pinching filmmakers may still opt for the oh-so-yesterday Vancouver, those in the know pack their saddles and head east, baby. It’s a place where the absinthe is nearly as cheap as the labour, and economically depressed neighborhoods and gothic ghost towns make great stand-ins for everything from a bombed-out Berlin to a war-torn Yugoslavia. Big-budget movies can go into a place like Romania and crank out truly epic films for a fraction of the cost of shooting in the Hollywood “system”, while low-budget films can make themselves look remarkably good for little more than the price of a wrap party at Spago Beverly Hills. It’s a shame, then, that the producers of the new Wesley Snipes film, The Marksman, seems have budgeted what seems like little more than the cost of dinner for two at IHOP.
Snipes stars as Painter. We don’t know his real name, as he is simply too cool of a customer to share it, but we do know that his specialty is electronically “painting” targets for incoming air strikes. So, despite the film’s title, he’s not a marksman, but, then again, he’s not really all that great of a painter either, as we are told that, prior to this operation, he marked the wrong target in Bosnia, killing hundreds of innocent people. He is, however, remarkably adept at looking tortured by his past. But, somehow, I doubt a film called The Gloomy Gus would have Snipes fans lining up to buy it.
Painter and his squad (who, strangely enough, miserably fail a readiness test conducted by a ninja-like Painter during the film’s opening credits) are sent to Chechnya to stop a crazed former Soviet officer who is holding scientists hostage in an attempt to re-core stolen nuclear materials at an inactive power plant. They arrive and evacuate the hostages with nary a hitch, but Painter senses something’s amiss as the mission was far too easy, and his instincts prove correct when the “hostages” turn out to be working for the rebels. However, the conspiracy runs much deeper, and it is now up to Painter not only to save his men, but prevent a nuclear catastrophe that could lead to World War III.
On a purely visual level, The Marksman does a reasonable job of hiding its budgetary limitations. Director Marcus Adams (Long Time Dead) frames the action as though he had much more to work with than he actually did, but, even then, the reliance on stock footage and “reincarnated” Chechen rebels (sporting different color flannel jackets) is a constant reminder that this is not your daddy’s Wesley Snipes film, as if the fact that the only other recognizable talent in the film is Emma Samms-a woman whose career peaked around the same time that A Flock of Seagulls’ did-didn’t already make that abundantly clear.
Still, there’s plenty of action and the notoriously difficult Snipes seems to eagerly embrace his newfound status as a direct-to-video action star. While his turn in The Marksman won’t win the surly actor any awards, his presence is certainly an upgrade over the usual grade-Z talent that populates the economy end of this particular genre, and, with already four direct-to-video titles to his credit and more on the way, one can sense the Lorenzo Lamases and Antonio Sabato Jrs of the world quaking in their B-movie boots.
Movie- D+
Extras- D-
Directed by Marcus Adams
Starring Wesley Snipes, Emma Samms
Romania is now officially the Hollywood of Eastern Europe. While other penny-pinching filmmakers may still opt for the oh-so-yesterday Vancouver, those in the know pack their saddles and head east, baby. It’s a place where the absinthe is nearly as cheap as the labour, and economically depressed neighborhoods and gothic ghost towns make great stand-ins for everything from a bombed-out Berlin to a war-torn Yugoslavia. Big-budget movies can go into a place like Romania and crank out truly epic films for a fraction of the cost of shooting in the Hollywood “system”, while low-budget films can make themselves look remarkably good for little more than the price of a wrap party at Spago Beverly Hills. It’s a shame, then, that the producers of the new Wesley Snipes film, The Marksman, seems have budgeted what seems like little more than the cost of dinner for two at IHOP.
Snipes stars as Painter. We don’t know his real name, as he is simply too cool of a customer to share it, but we do know that his specialty is electronically “painting” targets for incoming air strikes. So, despite the film’s title, he’s not a marksman, but, then again, he’s not really all that great of a painter either, as we are told that, prior to this operation, he marked the wrong target in Bosnia, killing hundreds of innocent people. He is, however, remarkably adept at looking tortured by his past. But, somehow, I doubt a film called The Gloomy Gus would have Snipes fans lining up to buy it.
Painter and his squad (who, strangely enough, miserably fail a readiness test conducted by a ninja-like Painter during the film’s opening credits) are sent to Chechnya to stop a crazed former Soviet officer who is holding scientists hostage in an attempt to re-core stolen nuclear materials at an inactive power plant. They arrive and evacuate the hostages with nary a hitch, but Painter senses something’s amiss as the mission was far too easy, and his instincts prove correct when the “hostages” turn out to be working for the rebels. However, the conspiracy runs much deeper, and it is now up to Painter not only to save his men, but prevent a nuclear catastrophe that could lead to World War III.
On a purely visual level, The Marksman does a reasonable job of hiding its budgetary limitations. Director Marcus Adams (Long Time Dead) frames the action as though he had much more to work with than he actually did, but, even then, the reliance on stock footage and “reincarnated” Chechen rebels (sporting different color flannel jackets) is a constant reminder that this is not your daddy’s Wesley Snipes film, as if the fact that the only other recognizable talent in the film is Emma Samms-a woman whose career peaked around the same time that A Flock of Seagulls’ did-didn’t already make that abundantly clear.
Still, there’s plenty of action and the notoriously difficult Snipes seems to eagerly embrace his newfound status as a direct-to-video action star. While his turn in The Marksman won’t win the surly actor any awards, his presence is certainly an upgrade over the usual grade-Z talent that populates the economy end of this particular genre, and, with already four direct-to-video titles to his credit and more on the way, one can sense the Lorenzo Lamases and Antonio Sabato Jrs of the world quaking in their B-movie boots.
Movie- D+
Extras- D-