Sniper Special Ops

• Written and Directed by Fred Olen Ray
• May 3, 2016

When the mission to rescue a U.S. Congressman who has been kidnapped by the Taliban goes bad, the unit must survive until help arrives.

For a Seagal film Sniper Special Ops starts surprisingly strong. Then again Seagal is not the main driver of the action from start to finish. You could almost believe his scenes were inserted after the initial filming was completed. Would not be the first movie to do that.

By no means is this original or groundbreaking in the military action genre but it certainly starts better than one would expect. The action is solid. The firefights are well choreographed with enough chaos that you feel the characters are in trouble, but not so much that you can’t tell what’s going on. Wisely Seagal’s character of Sergeant Jake Chandler-a sniper-does not participate much in that. They leave it to the other actors. Seagal spends a lot of his scenes in this film sitting down. It’s just really weird. Not the first time I’ve seen him do it but is he that out of shape or is he in that generally poor physical condition?

Chandler feels like a minor part that was expanded upon for the biggest name in the movie. It’s a side dish for the meat of the story that was built up into its own entrée. I have watched a few Bruce Willis films (discussed on this blog) with a similar vibe to the scenes of the star. Seagal did little to help this. I think his fee could have been better used elsewhere.

Tim Abell as Sergeant Vic Mosby does an excellent job as the leader of the Delta Force team that the story focuses on. He’s tough yet not cartoonishly so. He’s well aware of the situation and conveys concern. You could believe he’s in charge of these men. Abell and the rest of the cast as soldiers not only act the part but look the part. I certainly hope Abell has gone on to other things.

This is in contrast to the fatherly and rather elderly army officer named Lieutenant Colonel Jackson (Dale Dye-a former Marine and now occasional actor). Dye sells the part but looks like a cross between John Hurt as Thunderbolt Ross and Buddy Ebsen as Jed Clampett. How do you cast this guy as an active military officer? He looks like he’s well above not just the retirement age, but the average human lifespan!

Thrown into the mix is spunky reporter character Janet (Charlene Amoia) who is gung-ho on going out into any combat situation to get the story. Pretty generic character and her presence is more for a bit of trickery during the climax than it is to contribute to anything that moves events. Team translator Bashir (Anthony Batarse) does more for that and is in the film less.

The problem with Sniper Special Ops is that if it weren’t for Seagal nobody would even pay attention to this movie. Maybe it needed some marketing and as I said before Seagal’s fee should have gone elsewhere. The acting isn’t great, but it’s good enough to get you from Point A to Point B. Director Fred Olen Ray is serviceable and does just that here. ‘Serviceable’ often equates to ‘Cult Classic’ or something with a more niche following than that but Sniper Special Ops may never get as far as the latter.

The main plot has enough going for it. There is an ambushed rescue team and we learn something more is going on, but you don’t know what. A few red herrings are tossed in for uncertainty. Not enough for a shocking ending. Just enough to keep your interest. There are no huge surprises or significant plot twists other than who the mysterious woman and her child are. Being that this was not a complex film but rather a straightforward actioner you should be able to figure that out.

I actually enjoyed Sniper Special Ops. Despite the presence of Steven Seagal it’s a rather good film. His pointless subplot should’ve been eliminated with the meat of the story expanded upon. Not a bad choice even with Seagal.