Sniper: The Last Stand

I am a fan of this franchise so I was thrilled to get an early screener of the 11th installment and indeed 8th with the delightful Chad Micheal Collins as Brandon Beckett. I was also delighted to see a female director in the chair for the first time and if she brought anything different.

Well, whatever she and the rest of the crew and cast did, it worked for me.

These films aren't Zero Dark Thirty or Black Hawk Down and they don't ever pretend to be. I don't know what the budget is or how many days they get but you can bet it ain't much and what they manage to do always looks on point. I also like the fact the characters at least look believeable. Too often filmmakers seem to panic and include a female actor to tick a box who let's say fits several requirements but last time I checked, being beautiful and busty, slim and feminine doesn't always mean you can pack a punch an realisitically look like you can carry all that kit and shoot a whopping great gun. The female actors in this however were awesome, fit and could whoop ass with the best of them.

That also leads me to weapons. Chad told me they used new sniper rifles in this installment and whilst I admitedly know most of my big guns from Fortnite, they certainly all looked like they were handling them correctly which can be really off-putting when an actor hasn't been correctly shown how to do it. Again Chad told me there were ex-military experts, tactical advisors and armorers on set and you could tell the actors were well trained.

The Sniper films always deliver on stunts and explosions, gunfire and hand to hand combat and this had it all too plus a nice arc for Brendan taking a rookie under his wing.

This franchise may not get the box office treatment but it is what you expect it to be - fun, entertaining high quality DTV military action with reacurring characters we love to spend time with and I for one hope we stay with Beckett for many years to come.