The formulaic action movie set-up and payoff to the Ukrainian war drama “Sniper: The White Raven” feel like they belong in a completely different movie than the rest of this arty character study, which follows a Ukrainian sniper as he defends his country and processes the death of his wife.
Lead performer Pavlo Aldoshyn, who stars as Ukrainian rifleman Mykola, provides the sturdiest bridge between the movie’s interstitial scenes – lots of slate-grey and brownish-green fields and bunkers – and its direct-to-video-worthy revenge narrative.
Aldoshyn’s restrained performance and his character’s sadly topical background sometimes add resonance to the movie’s generally bland scenario, which was co-written by Mykola Voronin, director Marian Bushan and script doctor Linda Seger.