If you’re like me, the first question you ask yourself when you see a movie called “Shooter” is:

“How satisfying is the love story?”

Unfortunately for romantics, the answer is not like a rose by any other name.

Well, unless you’re calling the rose “Head Shot” in which case you’ll cry like a baby throughout the film.

I had heard that some men might be concerned about the gratuitous violence, but I’m here to calm your fears, because they don’t serve salads at the snack bar and besides, you need to get some rest because you’re having that ovary transplant in the morning.

“Shooter” stars Mark Wahlberg as an embittered ex soldier who just wants to live quietly in the woods until one day his world is turned upside down and he’s forced into battling overwhelming forces using nothing but his advanced survival training and marksmanship skills.

Sure some of you might be saying, “Hey that sounds a lot like ‘First Blood’” but there’s a huge difference in two movies.

For one thing Mark is much taller than Sly.

Secondly, this movie has one word in its title whereas the other one has two.

Shall I go on?

Towering fireballs, exploding head wounds, and gaping neck wounds aside, the story is complex and moves along quite quickly. There are some decent laughs and it has just the right mix of conspiracy and action to make the 2 hours seem like 20 minutes.

This is the best action movie I’ve seen in years.