SNIPER: THE LAST STAND (2025) WATCH FREE ON Hurawatch

SNIPER: THE LAST STAND (2025) WATCH FREE ON Hurawatch

Blog Article

With Sniper: The Last Stand, it marks the 11th installment in the series that originally started in 1993 with Sniper and continued with Sniper: Rogue Mission and most recently, Sniper: G.R.I.T. - Global Response & Intelligence Team. After so many film entries, it is common for franchises to fall short of creativity and rely on nostalgic value. Will this be any different?

The movie opens with a ten-minute session during which the operators of Phoenix Track attempt to locate Kovalov the arms dealer (played by Arnold Vosloo, The Mummy, Condor’s Nest) in his headquarters located in the jungles of Costa Verde. Only to have him ignite his doomsday device.

The film then flashes back to forty-eight hours prior to Brandon Beckett’s (Chad Michael Collins, Dead Zone, Legion of the Dead) showing up at an isolated airstrip in Costa Verde which required him to take 6 planes in the last 36 hours and not even know what country he is currently located in.

Colonel Modise tells him it is an off the record job and presents him to the rest of the team which consists of returning character Zero, Angel, Hilo, and Hera aka “The Axe Twins” along with Zondi who this would be his first mission as a sniper.

Their target is Kovalov who is holed up in the jungle along with his weapon designer Maxxim who is played by Rob Van Vuuren developing some sort of super weapon. The objective is to bring them back alive and if that is not possible, then put them out of business permanently.

The part between Zondi and Beckett's training is to us standard intros. In this case, Esterhazy and Wathen provided it by way of flashback. Then they jump from the team moving out to the explosion aftermath we saw in the prologue. This approach spares us the usual trekking through jungles clichés while adding a morbid little twist.

This sets up an Alamo type face off against the corrupt Prime Minister’s personal militia which takes over the last half of the film. That not only brings in plenty of action, but also creates a fair amount of suspense given the choices made prior in the film concerning casualties. Sniper: The Last Stand, along with the ominous title makes me question just who will make it to the final credits.

Considering the franchise's popularity, it’s clear Sony allocated a bigger budget for this film as compared to other works intended solely for streaming services. The film also has adequate extras for the battle scenes and some explosions which are a lot better than the usual CGI or done in practical effects. Stunt heavy films where directors try to make it look like there are hundreds of stuntmen on screen often fall into the realm of unimaginative filmmaking. Here, more thought has clearly gone into the conception.

In addition, the film also benefits from a Sniper: The Last Stand being a little less action packed than usual for this franchise. Its script and direction are unexpectedly better compared to other movies from the series. I did have some concern because, while I’ve been a fan of the director’s previous work, Escape the Field was fun, albeit predictable. None of the two had any experience with action, horror is the only genre both of these filmmakers worked in prior.

To be blunt, the screenplay is executed remarkably, especially during the film’s first act. More importantly perhaps, the action is precise distinct as well, including Hera battling numerous enemies armed with machetes and many more. Acclaimed cinematographer Trevor Calverley (Slay, Lake Placid: Legacy) captures stunning images throughout.

With the exception of the leads, the rest of the cast seems largely unknown outside of South Africa, which is too bad as they give solid performances—better than many I see in the international productions filming there. Vosloo must be considered the standout of the leads. He gives a wonderfully hammy performance that made me wish his character had not been killed off so early on; it left only the faceless militiamen to populate the opposing side.

In any case, Sniper: The Last Stand is a perfectly good addition to the franchise and certainly qualifies as a good action film on its own. Like most of the others, it works as a stand-alone film, so you don’t have to have watched every installment leading up to this one in order to appreciate it.