Full Review

"Shooter" (Paramount) is a satisfying conspiracy thriller that plays like a Tom Clancy "Rambo," blending tech jargon with a politically tinged payback tale about an Army-trained killing machine.

Ex-U.S. military sniper Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg) finds himself framed by shadowy government bigwig Col. Isaac Johnson (Danny Glover), who needs a handy patsy for an attempted presidential assassination that winds up killing an Ethiopian bishop instead. But who was the real target, and why?

Swagger, shot and wounded by the conspirators, must first stay alive before he can learn the answer and clear himself. As he goes into hiding, an FBI rookie on the case, Nick Memphis (Michael Pena), keeps adding up the evidence and getting answers that his higher-ups either dismiss or disdain -- until the young agent comes under mysterious surveillance.

Swagger makes an ally of the widow (Kate Mara) of his old military "spotter" -- the person who crouches beside a sniper and feeds him surveillance and positioning data -- and pieces together the not particularly original but ultimately believable basis of the conspiracy. And then, as he says, "The Army taught me how not to die after they finished teaching me how to kill," and (to his own deep regret) is compelled to put both skills to use.

Wahlberg is effective as a conscience-stricken terminator who feels both physical and emotional pain, and Pena makes for a sympathetic sidekick. Glover avoids hamming up his amoral Medal of Honor winner gone bad, and veteran character actor Ned Beatty captures the salesman quality of a creepy power broker whose position as a U.S. senator is merely respectable window dressing.

Director Antoine Fuqua, who knows this territory from "Training Day" and "Tears of the Sun," keeps the grimly photographed action brisk, and the plot twists mostly convincing. If you think about it too hard, the core conspiracy doesn't make much sense and so it's to the filmmaker's credit that one is focused on the political intrigue and "MacGyver"-like improvisations on the way to the big blowout.

There is some rough and crude language, much military violence with bloodshed, a scene of anonymous soldiers immolated by napalm, two scenes of torture aftermath, and a woman in partial states of undress, though no nudity. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.

The classifications are as follows:

• A-I -- general patronage;
• A-II -- adults and adolescents;
• A-III -- adults;
• A-IV**
• L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
• O -- morally offensive.