No, this is not the legacy sequel to Seven Psychopaths, or even Seven Samurai. Although, it does have a fair amount in common with Seven Samurai, in the whole concept of protecting what is yours, and there being seven people. The film follows an Australian farmer (Radha Mitchell) who is trying to give her daughter the best birthday ever, but first her daughter has to get to school with her boyfriend (although, they have other plans). While she’s away, a mysterious stranger shows up and hints at something from her past, and we learn pretty quickly, she has a particular set of skills, and a blast from her past knows where she is. She quickly rounds up some support, and tries to get in contact with her delinquent daughter so she can protect her from… what’s coming. Can the seven snipers defend against the legend to come?
I would say that’s a comfortably vague description of the film. Basically, it is Mitchell versus Tim Roth, who has Chris Kyle level skills, and the whole thriller becomes a tense game of getting picked off one by one.Without audio description, it wasn’t quite as fun as it could have been,but Tim Roth always makes for a fun villain. It was also nice seeing Radha Mitchell, who I always associate with Pitch Black, and feel like she never quite got to fill the Milla Jovovich vibe of the period.Jovovich has never wanted for work, and Mitchell is a better actress, and should have at least had as prominent of a career. Like a lot of Australian talent, she got started on Neighbors, and her post-Pitch Black career included Silent Hill and Man On Fire, but she’s mostly been doing Australian films that haven’t made an impact domestically since. Honestly, the same could be said for Ryan Kwanten, who looked prime for a Hollywood career post-True Blood, but after a few attempts, he’s been relegated to smaller works as True Blood is further in the rear view. Roth, on the other hand, has that Oscar nomination under his belt, and an impressive career full of films with top talent and directors. He can afford to float in and out of whatever, because he likely gets a wide range of offers.
I did immediately think of Seven samurai (and as a byproduct The Magnificent Seven), and how similar this is, but instead of protecting a town, it is really just one thing. This home, or more specifically, the daughter. But calling in seven of anything is asking your audience to remember the past, and that’s what this does. Six Snipers is a fine title, but something tells me the homage is intentional.
If I had any complaints, aside from the lack of domestic audio description, it is that, unlike The Magnificent Seven, the good guys seem to have some slightly less developed, more expendable characters, whose brief introduction is all the character development they get. It reminded me of Suicide Squad, and how we’re introduced to one member who doesn’t abide by the rules, and finds out what happens. We learned a little about him, but the intention was clearly to knock him off in a gag. Here, the tone is serious, and with these snipers on tense lockdown, backstories would have made us feel every death.
Seven Snipers isn’t Seven Samurai, but it does offer enough tension, and some interesting twists to make this a target worth taking.
Fresh: 6.7/10
