With Russia on the brink of nuclear annihilation, there's only one man who can save it: an elite U.S. Special Forces operative who's been ordered to take out a Chechen nuclear power plant before terrorists set off a live reactor.
Wesley Snipes (Blade Trilogy) is armed and extremely dangerous in THE MARKSMAN, an explosive action-adventure thriller where nothing is what it seems. With Russia on the brink of nuclear annihilation, there's only one man who can save it: The Marksman (Snipes). An elite U.S. Special Forces operative, he's been ordered to take out a Chechen nuclear power plant before terrorists set off a live reactor. Infiltrating the heavily-guarded facility, The Marksman indicates the target for an American missile strike and makes his escape. But when he discovers it's the missiles and not the terrorists that'll ignite the device, The Marksman realizes he's been set up. And so begins a race against time as he attempts to disarm a target whose detonation will trigger the death of thousands and topple two world powers.
US receives intelligence that an 'armed' nuclear reactor has been captured by Chechen rebels in the Chechen town of Kamshev. A Chechen leader is killed, and rebel leader General Igor Zaysan (Dan Badaru) capture the nuclear power plant. 3 of 4 reactors at Kamshev have been decommissioned. But the 4th reactor can be brought online, if it is re-cored with nuclear fuel. Andrey Flintov (Serge Soric) is Igor's right-hand man. Flintov is known to have purchased Uranium rods from a failed North Korean reactor.
US cannot bomb the area as it will kick up radioactive dust into the air. A precision strike is needed and for that the target needs to be painted electronically. US intelligence head Jonathan Tensor (William Hope) & Amanda Jacks (Emma Samms) brings in Enter Painter (Wesley Snipes), a US Special Forces operative, known as 'The Marksman' (Wesley Snipes).
Painter's team includes Rodgers (Ryan McCluskey), Orin (Warren Derosa), "Hightop" (Christiaan Haig), Captain Naish (Anthony Warren), Hargreaves (Peter Youngblood Hills) etc. Painter had a history of painting the wrong target in Bosnia, which led to major collateral damage and the team doesn't trust him.
Even the Russian Minister Viktor Ivanov (Gelu Nitu) has given the US his permission to carry out this mission. Unknown to everyone, the Russians are fully aware of Igor's plans and are letting the Americans think that they are in charge of the operation. Mikhail Beslan (Vlad Ivanov) works for Viktor & is coordinating with Amanda regarding every detail of the US operation.The mission is to stop Chechen rebels that have taken over a to-be-decommissioned nuclear power plant from using it as a dirty bomb. Igor can detonate the 4th reactor as a dirty bomb after re-coring it. This will cause roughly 100,000 deaths instantly and a few hundred thousand more from the radiation fallout.
Their mission is made all the more delicate by intelligence indicating a group of American specialists (hired by the Russians to help decommission the plant) had been taken hostage within the nuclear power plant compound and that they must complete their mission before the rebels can reactivate the core of the remaining reactor. 2 of the Americans are hiding inside a hospital, and one of them Arthur Moffit has been in touch with the US intelligence team on phone. Amanda has told Painter that in event of a conflict, the reactor is the priority over the hostages.
Painter and his Spec-Ops team only have a limited amount of time to "paint" the target electronically before U.S. military forces wade in to bomb the plant out of existence. Lieutenant Carter (Tim Abell) is standing by with an F-14 strike package on a US carrier to move in as soon as Painter lights up the target.
Painter and the team air drops and parachutes down. They meet some resistance on the ground but are able to reach Kamshev reactor with relative ease. They reach the hospital, where they rescue Arthur and Valentina Benkova (Tania Popa). Arthur guides Painter and the team via underground tunnels to reactor # 3. There Painter finds the dead bodies of the US researchers. Painter lights the target and Carter launches from the carrier with the strike package.
Finishing the mission with ease, rescuing two hostages and reaching the evacuation zone the team prepares to move out. Painter, having been delayed when placing the homing beacon inside the reactor realizes that his mission was far too easy, and it may be compromised. As Painter relays this info to Nash, Valentina detonates a grenade inside the rescue copter before being shot down. The team, except Painter, is captured by the Chechen rebels. It is revealed that Arthur was working for the rebels.
Igor kills Arthur. Igor and Flintov worry if Painter is able to get in touch with the Russians. Painter steals a communications unit to contact Amanda but comes under fire from Igor's forces. Amanda tries to convince Tensor to call off the fighter strike package. Tensor is not convinced and says that Painter is panicking. Amanda calls Beslan and they both agree that something is wrong about the mission. Beslan agrees to send interceptors for the US fighters. But Carter shoots down the Russian interceptors.
Painters lights a secondary target on the rebel's communications command and control center. Meanwhile Amanda looks at satellite photos of Kamshev and finds that the truck that they have been following (suspected to have the North Korean reactor rods), has already been to Kamshev. They have been following a decoy.Amanda calls Beslan again and finds that he has been re-assigned. Amanda tells Tensor that she feels Viktor set this whole thing up. He led the US to believe that they were bombing the target before it was re-cored, only that it was already re-cored and would start a chain reaction if bombed. Amanda believes that Viktor is trying to grab political power by this strike, by making the incumbent Russian govt look incompetent and in cahoots with the Americans. Tensor wants to wait till the truck is stopped and examined.
Painter launches a covert attack to rescue his team from Igor's men. Carter is 13 mins away from target. Painter tells Nash that the rebels have again cored the reactors, since the dead technicians had edema in their eyes, which comes from radiation sickness. Painter launches an attack to deactivate the primary target light, which is heavily guarded by Flintov. Meanwhile the truck is opened and there are no nuclear rods inside it.Painter penetrates the heavy security and goes hand to hand against Flintov. Before Tensor can call off the fighter, Carter launches the missile. At the last second, Painter defeats Flintov and kills the beacon, re-targeting the missile to the secondary beacon, which kills Igor. Painter and his team are safely evacuated. Viktor commits suicide.
