Sniper: Assassin's End Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Sniper: Assassin's End Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 17, 2020

For anyone wondering why Sniper: Assassin's End feels familiar or wondering where they've seen this story before, here's a hint: pick any random direct-to-video Action film made in the last two decades and it's about 50/50 odds to choose a movie that's painfully familiar to this one: a once-decorated military man finds himself framed for an assassination he didn't commit. Now, he's on the run from multiple individuals and agencies as he fights to find a way to clear his name. That's Sniper: Assassin's End in a nutshell, and it does nothing to crack the surface and offer anything new or of interest. Now the eighth film in the franchise that began way back in 1993 with Sniper which, curiously, still isn't on Blu-ray (maybe it'll make its way into the next installment of the "Columbia Classics" collection), the series has now made its mark on the DTV circuit as one of the longer-lasting in history. Unfortunately, "making a mark" here means just pushing out stale content with a fresh coat of paint.

The United States and Costa Verde, long at political odds, are signing an agreement to lift a trade embargo. The Costa Verdian President, Bruno-Diaz, is assassinated prior to the signing, and on worldwide broadcast at that. A single piece of evidence -- a strand of hair -- planted at the scene points to Brandon Beckett (Chad Michael Collins) as the shooter, a decorated sniper who is enjoying the benefits of a long-deserved leave, eating pizza and playing video games, not conducting political hit jobs. He was supposed to be killed soon thereafter and it made to look like a suicide, but he is taken into custody before the true assassin, the deadly Lady Death (Sayaka Akimoto), can reach him. When he barely escapes an attempt on his life that leaves several men dead, Beckett meets up with his father (Tom Berenger), himself a former decorated sniper, while on the run from both Lady Death and governmental pursuers led by Agents John Franklin (Lochlyn Munro) and Zeke Rosenberg (Ryan Robbins).

The best way to describe Sniper: Assassin's End? Ho-Hum. Truly, this movie epitomizes the midlevel, generic, inconsequential, insert-any-middling-adjective-here type of movie. It has it all: a recycled story, political and corporate plot minutia that nobody's going to care about, pancake flat characters, merely passable action, a rote script, mediocre production values, and so on and so forth. It's hard to get into it and nearly impossible to care about the plot intricacies beyond "man on the run chased by good-looking gal with some face paint." Unfortunately, the chase isn't at all energized and the movie's best scene comes when "Lady Death" is involved in a non-shooting duel with both of the Becketts. She sees them, they don't see her, but she still doesn't like the odds, so she shoots a corpse which makes a machine gun go off, giving her time to slip away. Outside of that, there's maybe a handful of adequately stylized shots and moments but forget anything of dramatic worth. Most of the movie's 95 minute runtime is filled with ancillary fluff.

While the film connects to previous franchise entries, featuring now face-of-the-franchise Brandon Beckett (introduced in Sniper: Reloaded, also headlining Sniper: Legacy, Sniper: Ghost Shooter, and Sniper: Ultimate Kill), and returns Tom Berenger who clocks in a few minutes of screen time, the movie plays largely in a standalone context, its connective tissues more in-name-only rather than built on anything integral to this film and, on the other end, that see this film offer anything to the larger franchise family. The performances are fine but nobody accomplishes much in their endeavors, thanks largely to a pedestrian script that's more interested in getting the movie on screens than putting something with any drastic heft out there. The movie plays it safe, which is obvious in the first five minutes and it never does anything to change directions.

Sniper: Assassin's End Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sniper: Assassin's End takes aim on Blu-ray with a solid all-around 1080p transfer. The film was digitally photographed and while some lower light shots hold some light noise artifacts it's never really intrusive, even in the darkest scenes, such as when Beckett has a beer with his father midway through the film or during an interrogation scene in chapter 14, both of which also show evidence of the image's black level mastery. General textures are satisfying, revealing good foundation and intricate detailing alike on faces, clothes, and environments. In close-up, viewers will note individual hairs and pores, clothing peculiarities and fabric workmanship, and the like. Colors are well balanced, revealing Lady Death's face paint and feminine firearm, natural greens, and other tones with good, stable depth and contrast. There are no serious encode issues of note.

Sniper: Assassin's End Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sniper: Assassin's End shoots onto Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack that is perfectly acceptable and technically accurate within the movie's rather pedestrian sound design limits. Music plays with good front stretch and modest surround extension. Clarity is rather good, offering fine instrumental distinction and quality depth as necessary, particularly to some of the more "eerie" notes, such as heard during an intense interrogation scene in chapter 14. Action scenes present with proper vigor. Gunshots blast with satisfying intensity and stage presence, whether deep single shots or full automatic spray. Action stretches the stage and envelopes the audience as the situation warrants. Action is fairly sparse; the movie is talk-heavy for the most part and dialogue is clear, stably positioned, and well prioritized. Light atmospheric effects do help guide any number of scenes to more naturally fruitful sonic completion.

Sniper: Assassin's End Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Sniper: Assassin's End contains no supplements beyond a few trailers for other films. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. A DVD copy is not. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

Sniper: Assassin's End Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sniper: Assassin's End embodies the "no harm, no foul" approach to the direct-to-video marketplace. It takes an established name and builds off of a seven-film history but does so in a way that won't alienate anyone who hasn't had the privilege of binging the other seven films prior to watching this one. The story is 100% generic and the characters can't be placed in the novelty column, either. The acton is rote, the production values are merely adequate, and the movie is destined to become little more than a footnote in the annals of overextended film franchises. It's a decent enough watch in isolation but there's no intrinsic value here beyond time killing. Sony's featureless Blu-ray does offer solid video and audio. For franchise fans only.