MovieChat Forums > Shooter (2016) Discussion > Isaac's motives are all over the place.

Isaac's motives are all over the place.


It's like the writers forgot he existed midway, and now keep adding him in the conflict one way or the other.
First he wanted to help the russians do wet work over ukranian president, frame his best sniper with it, for reasons unknown.
Then he realized it was just a cover up for a bigger ulterior motive, so he starts worrying and wants out, but the writers kept him relevant by making him kill Donnie's mom, for reasons unknown.
At this point he is starting to fade away from the story, but again the writers put ihm in a better seat by exposing him to NXB, giving him some leverage over Beechum and russians. But then when he confronts beechum, he shrugs him away like a mosquito.
Then he finds out about Lon scott being the shooter, and tries to make a deal with beechum again, but instead he gets told to kill his friend who helped him get access to NXB files.
Now he just wants out so he waits for Bob and confronts him, begging for partnership, but he gets shrugged again...
Then he just wants out again, so contacts beechum but he is told to do one last job which is to kill Jack, where he confronts Jack like a badass and then gets shrugged off by him, AGAIN.
Now he is just roaming around confused and gets confronted by Gregory, who tells him to kill Bob. Confusingly, now, Isaac demands the 10 mil, for a wet work? And then he fails to do it, but still wants diamonds, so he extorts the tracker follows it, only to find out diamonds and the thumb drive are gone...

I mean why is he still alive in the show anyways. He should have been killed off, instead now he is just bugging everyone like an annoying mosquito. Nobody wants him around but he still is, but they dont want to kill him either because then their will be blood on their hands, lol.

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There's no doubt that Isaac is a cog in the wheel, a small but useful part of a much grander scheme. It's become obvious that most of the conspirators are in it for the big pay day, but Isaac has been groomed since his days as a military leader to see the big picture as part of a deeper patriotism, and yes, a way to make himself essential for a career boost. About the time he is ordered to kill that old woman he is completely sure he is in over his head and the outcome is surely death or imprisonment. When he sends his wife into hiding he is convinced that it might not be enough to just have him eliminated, but to utterly erase him. He is balanced on a precipice trying everything he can to align himself with whomever will come out on top. As Swagger said, "You're not trying to help me, you're trying save yourself."

Why is he alive? Why is Payne alive? Each plays a part in enriching this story. Personally, I'm glad Omar Epps is still contributing to this show.



It's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it.
RIP Roger Ebert

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He's still alive because he's black. Every US TV show has to have a black main character, who can never die, except, perhaps, a heroic death. Since Isaac starts out as the villain, and all villains have to die in the end, the writers have a Catch-22, which they wriggle out of in 2 ways.
First they introduce the REAL villains, who are always white, middle-aged men who can die without upsetting the BLM folks, and second, by means of convoluted and absurd plotting, they turn Isaac into a hero who is redeemed at the end.

It's American writing 101.

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He's still alive because he's black.


You are a certifiable, completely ignorant human being.

The character arc of Isaac Johnson has nothing to do with the darkness of the skin of the actor portraying him.



It's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it.
RIP Roger Ebert

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If they wanted to redeem this character they did a poor job at it. The OP is right. His motivations are indeed all over the place and he is just generally a pretty unlikable character. As for the political correctness they already had a black female hero character (who was of course male in the book!! :)) so they really didn't need to further prove that they are progressive and whatnot. I like Omar Epps but I would have preferred him to bite the bullet along with Lon and Jack this episode. The movie was less PC in this sense. They mercylessly killed off Danny Glover and it was satisfying.

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Yeah I agree the guy's loyalties are about as stable as jello. I can't see how anyone on any side could put any "bank" on this guy.

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