Shoot ‘Em Up
Shoot ‘Em Up is quite possibly the most intentionally ridiculous movie I have ever seen. Ninety minutes of sheer, unadulterated nonsense that won’t enrich your life in any way, shape or form. As a fan of trashy action movies, I absolutely loved it. This is not a film that is grounded in any kind of reality, and it knows it.
Clive Owen stars as Mr Smith (his real name is never revealed), a man who starts the film enjoying a carrot and a cup of coffee at a bus stop, when a pregnant woman comes running past him with generic thug #32 in hot pursuit threatening to kill her.
Smith can’t just sit back and watch the action unfold, and quickly becomes embroiled in a gunfight with a seemingly endless parade of henchmen, soon joined by the boss (Paul Giamacci). The girl gives birth shortly before biting the bullet (literally), leaving Smith holding the baby, and trying to escape his would be assassins.
The wafer thin plot of the movie is thus, Smith attempts to protect the baby (with the help of hooker friend Monica Bellucci) while trying to find out who is trying to kill him, and why.
As with the similarly themed Crank, the plot plays second fiddle to the almost non-stop action, which is incredibly gory at times (garnering the movie an 18 certificate here in the UK), but is executed with enough humour to avoid any real gross-out moments.
Shoot ‘Em Up is like a pumped up Bugs Bunny cartoon, with the carrot chomping Smith playing Bugs to Giamatti’s Elmer Fudd. The rascally rabbit evades the hunter in a series of ever increasingly ridiculous action sequences that will make you repeatedly laugh out loud.
Shoot ‘Em Up seems very much like a movie that was green lit after the success of the similarly OTT Crank. It’s a cartoon wrapped in an adult setting that has a surprising amount of heart for such a full-on killfest.
This is largely thanks to Clive Owen, not an actor I particularly admire, and here he is pretty much playing his character from Sin City, minus the fake American accent.
Well worth a watch.
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Category: Movies
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About the Author (Author Profile)
By day I work in IT as an infrastructure manager, specialising in Microsoft technologies, primarily Windows and Exchange Server.
On here I write about my passions, movies, videogames, technology and particularly the world of high definition.
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I’ve been wondering about Shoot ‘Em Up. One of those movies that could go either way (good or stupid) in a hurry. I may wait unitll it comes out on DVD before I see it though.
Do you think it’s worth a movie theatre experience, or is it more of a ‘good rental’ experience ?
I would say you don’t need to see it in theaters to enjoy it. It will be a great movie to watch with pizza and a few beers.
Cracking entertainment!