By James Barber
“Sniper: Rogue Mission,” set for release on Blu-ray, DVD and digital on Aug. 16, 2022, is the ninth movie in a surprisingly tenacious series of thrillers about Marine sniper Thomas Beckett and his Marine sniper son, Brandon.
Tom Berenger first brought the character to life in the 1993 theatrical release “Sniper,” revived the character in 2002 for Cinemax with “Sniper 2” and made the move to home video releases with “Sniper 3” in 2004.
Producers revived the series in 2011 with “Sniper: Reloaded,” a movie that introduced Chad Michael Collins as Brandon Beckett, a young Marine sniper who has a complicated relationship with the memory of his father.
2014’s “Sniper: Legacy” was a high point, because dad and son were reunited in the same movie and the series introduced the character of the Colonel, played by Dennis Haysbert (“The Unit”). Dad disappeared for 2016’s “Sniper: Ghost Shooter” but the Colonel stuck around and Billy Zane rejoined the party after sitting out all the movies since the original “Sniper.”
Then the Colonel disappeared for 2017’s “Sniper: Ultimate Kill,” but Dad returned and Zane made appearance #3. Zane was gone for 2020’s “Sniper: Assassin’s End,” but Dad was still around and Brandon was joined by the new characters Zeke “Zero” Rosenberg (Ryan Robbins, “Riverdale”) and Yuki “Lady Death” Mifune (Sayaka Akimoto).
Take a breath and note that, by the eighth movie, we’ve left the Marine Corps behind and the snipers are being used to carry out top-secret, off-the-books ops along the lines of what goes on in Jack Carr’s “The Terminal List” or Mark Greaney’s “The Gray Man” novels.
After a break for the pandemic, we’re back in 2022 with “Sniper: Rogue Mission.” Thomas Beckett is gone again, but the Colonel has returned to the series. This time, Brandon is working for the CIA to expose a crooked federal agent and break up a sex traffcking ring, and he’s once again allied with Homeland Security agent Zero and Lady Death.
We’ve got a clip from Sniper: Rogue Mission.” Brandon Beckett and Lady Death have some unresolved issues from “Sniper: Assassin’s End” and have decided to work things out with a back-alley ass kicking.
Will Brandon Beckett return for a 10th “Sniper” movie? Bet on it. Our Marine veteran has built a solid straight-to-video fanbase, and producers have figured out how to deliver the action on a shoestring budget.
