A kind of First Blood for the George W Bush era, Shooter is a conspiracy thriller-cum-action movie that's not afraid to wear its politics on its sleeve. When disillusioned former military sharpshooter Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg) agrees to help the US government capture a sniper who's planning to kill the president, the scene is set for a Day of the Jackal-style confrontation. But Swagger's actually being set up as the assassin and has to go on the run to clear his name, and expose the conspiracy at the heart of the government. Wahlberg excels in this frantic action movie, his chisel-jawed features perfect for the veteran who has taken his war home with him. Director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) intersperses the gunfire with simplistic but hard-hitting asides about the Bush administration's declining fortunes. It's hardly The Parallax View, yet it hammers home its anger over the corruption of America's political elite with unerring accuracy.

A top Marine sniper, Bob Lee Swagger, leaves the military after a mission goes horribly awry and disappears, living in seclusion. He is coaxed back into service after a high-profile government official convinces him to help thwart a plot to kill the President of the United States. Ultimately double-crossed and framed for the attempt, Swagger becomes the target of a nationwide manhunt. He goes on the run to track the real killer and find out who exactly set him up, and why, eventually seeking revenge against some of the most powerful and corrupt leaders in the free world.