Shoot 'Em Up (2007)
Have Carrot, Will Travel, 11 September 2007
by Rogue-32

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Move over, Quentin T., there's a new
sheriff in town. With Shoot 'Em
Up, director/writer Michael Davis
takes the over-the-top violent
action film genre and blows a blood soaked,
mile-wide hole in it good an' proper,
and that's just in the first 5 minutes,
give or take a few.

This film is violent, sure, but as I always
say, it's how a movie is done that
makes the difference. Shoot 'Em Up proceeds
from one dazzlingly outrageous scene
to another with unflagging confidence,
tons of panache, brilliantly warped humor
and blazing originality, sweeping you, the
lucky viewer, giddy and gleefully along.

The casting is genius as well, beginning
with Clive Owen, who's dead-on here,
with his ever-present carrot in hand,
rescuing the (adorable) baby, getting the
girl, killing the bad guys (who just keep coming
like deranged vampire replicants), even solving
The Mystery from the most obscure of clues,
all while complaining about everything he
hates, which ranges from "people who don't
use their turn signals" to "a pussy with
a gun in his hand."

And speaking of the great Paul Giamatti,
he's in monumentally fine form here
as Hertz, the self-described brilliant
leader of the gunmen. Squallid and seedy
beyond all comprehension, you just know
he's having a blast (pun intended)
with this part. After proving in his last few
outings that he can carry a film and play
anything, he gets to bask hardily in
full venal mode, sneering, scowling
and torturing his way into our hearts as only
Giamatti can. There's a running bit in the
film where his wife keeps calling him
on his cell phone, usually
while he's in the midst of gunning
people down, and this has a really
hilarious payoff toward the end - one
of the funniest parts of the
movie, in my estimation.

The film is shot in stark, sharp tones,
making it look like a comic
book come to life more than
any film I've ever seen, while still
using real actors. And there
are sequences here that you have NOT
witnessed before, speaking of
that originality I mentioned earlier.
The one which stood out most
to me is the one where Clive Owen
and Monica Bellucci (also perfect)
are making love and the baddies bust
in. In most films, this would
pre-empt the love-making. In Shoot 'Em Up,
they continue the act, which actually
culminates while the bullets are
flying. Worked for me.

Wendy Enneman