Shooter: Season 1

Based on the 1993 novel Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter and the 2007 movie adaptation Shooter, this USA series stars Ryan Phillippe as veteran Marine sharpshooter Bob Lee Swagger (the role played by Mark Wahlberg in the film), who is framed to take the fall in an assassination conspiracy but escapes and tries to uncover the truth and clear his name. The plot is essentially the same as in the movie except that now Swagger is married with a young daughter, and both his wife and child are in danger while he's at large and under suspicion. Cynthia Addai-Robinson costars as the FBI agent who first captures Swagger and starts to believe in a cover-up, Omar Epps is his former commander who lures him out of retirement and sets him up for the fall, and Eddie McClintock and Tom Sizemore are not-quite-reliable operatives. As the conspiracy starts to unravel, the focus shifts from the assassination to a secret computer program that the Russians are desperate to recover, and a sharpshooter (Desmond Harrington) who is obsessed with proving that he's a better marksman than Swagger. It's a straightforward thriller in a self-contained season that wraps the story. Phillippe is fine in an underdeveloped role—he's all stoic professionalism without much personality. Shooter is ultimately a decent genre entry that never reaches the level of 24 or Prison Break. Compiling all 10 episodes from the 2016-17 debut season, extras include a “making-of” featurette. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)