Customer Reviews

Shoot 'Em Up

5 star:		(90)
4 star:		(76)
3 star:		(32)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(45)

 

 

Whoah! If you're looking for mindless action, THIS is the movie for you.
It's over the top, totally unbelievable, physically impossible, but absolutely brilliant all at the same time.

2 minute version:

Clive Owen eats a lot of carrots, and values his privacy. There are many things that he absolutely hates, and he comes into contact with most of these things when he unwillingly gets involved in a plot to kill a very pregnant young woman. Suddenly faced with a nanny job, he shoots his way out of the frying pan and into the fire, each scenario more draw-dropping-ly impossible than the last. Paul Giamatti plays an unlikely criminal mastermind and Monica Bellucci is under-utilized as the proverbial professional with a heart of gold except she's also got a chest of milk to go with it. Things get political, and hopelessly complicated, and of course there's lots and lots (and lots) of shooting, during any (and I do mean ANY) situation.

Good stuff:

1. Clive Owen
2. Clive Owen's one-liners
3. Clive Owen's stunts
4. The hilariously bad but breathtaking, yet impossible scenarios
5. Paul Giamatti's cell phone calls
6. The body count
7. Clive Owen's nude scene
8. Clive Owen

Bad stuff:

1. Carrots are DEFINITELY not good for some people
2. Not enough Bellucci
3. Plot (nuff said) but then again, we don't need no steenkin' plot


If you can forget that this movie professes to have a plot, you're in for a rollicking good (but extremely violent) time. Definitely a must-see if you're looking for mindless adult entertainment, and don't mind looking at Clive Owen.

Rated: 4.5 stars





Amanda Richards, December 9, 2007

SHOOT 'EM UP is well named: this is a whompingly good action movie that is as much parody of its genre as it is a good story. It never for a moment takes itself seriously and it is played by a strong cast of top-drawer actors having a terrific time. Writer/director Michael Davis has found his niche and let's hope there will be more dark comedies that are as much fun to watch as this one.

The story is negligible: lone man Smith (Clive Owen at his best) observes a pregnant woman in chased distress, delivers her baby, then finishes off the huge gang of bad guys who are in pursuit, taking the newborn boy to transient safety. Smith finds a lactating prostitute Donna (beautiful Monica Bellucci), takes her from her business of kinky sex and makes her the baby's surrogate mother. A smarmy gangster Hertz (Paul Giamatti in another career forming role), connected to an illicit arms manufacturer Hammerson (Stephen McHattie), is in pursuit of both Smith and the baby for reasons that are finally disclosed: the baby is part of a ring of potential bone marrow donors for an important Senator. The ending is, well, an ending. But it is the getting there that is all the fun.

The dialog is peppered with hilarious one-liners that have a real edge and the methods of the endless killings include several using the carrot that Smith keeps at hand as a weapon. The shootings are fast and impossible but actually hilarious in the choreography. Clive Owen plays the role straight, with a real gift for humor as well as action. Paul Giamatti is a sinister delight and able to match Owens one-liner for one-liner. Monica Bellucci makes her impossible role credible and as always is gorgeous to look at! This is a fast paced, finely written and acted parody - definitely deserving of the comic book title! Grady Harp, January 08

Yes, this movie is completely over the top. That's the point !!!!!!!!!! The film is a caricature of action films. The action hero is named "Mr. Smith." The hooker has a heart of gold. The body count is enormous! They have a baby in a bulletproof vest!!! I have no idea how anyone could take this movie seriously. You aren't supposed to!!! If you love action movies, and have a good sense of humor, you will enjoy this movie. This movie is great fun. I laughed my *ss off! And Clive Owen is seriously hot!!! (and for the guys.... Monica Bellucci is beautiful.)

Almost every low review written about "Shoot 'Em UP" is from a person who COMPLETELY missed the point. Anyone who watches this movie needs to understand that this movie is a "S P O O F" !!!!!!

This is one of the funniest spoofs I have ever seen. Hands down.

"Shoot 'Em Up" does not have in depth characters, it IS SUPPOSED TO BE misogynistic, and if you try to take it seriously for one second..... you're going to hate it. Watch this film when you need a good laugh. The dialog is hysterical. Every scene from start to finish is completely "Over the Top", but still executed with big budget precision. The acting is absolutely dead on perfect. I think it was marketed very badly, and THAT'S why it did poorly at the box office.

Watch this movie when you need a good laugh, you won't regret it.

What should you expect when you have a movie whose stunt crew is about 3 times the size of the cast? One thing's for sure...you should get a lot of action packed sequences. and Shoot 'Em Up delivers.

In fact, it was no surprise to hear that the script was written around a lot of preconceived action [...]. That fact certainly didn't make Shoot 'Em Up a bad movie; it was actually pretty good. But it did come across as a plethora of spectacular stunts that just needed a halfway decent story to get produced as a movie.

The stunts are spectacular. They go nicely with the 100% deliberate hokeyness of the film. A black comedy to some...a kind-of comic book/animation come to life to others. The death defying feats are way over the top, but again, it's all intentional on the part of Writer/Director Michael Davis.

Clive Owen, who's really made a name for himself lately (Sin City, Children of Men, Inside Man), does a fabulous job as leading man in Shoot "Em Up. And Paul Giamatti, in his one billionth role I think, is as fun to watch as ever.

Owen is the carrot-eating good guy and Giamatti is the bad guy. Owen by chance inserts himself a political conspiracy that is run by Giamatti, and the result is a fast-past, surreal, action-packed...well...Shoot 'Em Up.

I was thoroughly entertained, but found myself saying out loud, "oh, yeah, right" over and over throughout the movie. So if you don't mind a little over the top silliness with your action, Shoot 'Em Up is right up your alley.

While my title doesn't fully capture the true action panache this 86 minute rocketsled packs, it does provide you a quick snapshot of what you're in for; loads of guns, crazy stunts and just plain silly fun.

That is if hyperviolent action movies loaded with black humor are your cup of tea.

All other high-browed audiences only interested in CINEMA (conceited "sniff sniff" here), PLEASE, don't even bother. Your finger waving and holding-of-the-noses are beyond tired.

Judge this film the same way you would judge an R-rated piece of anime' - not for the kiddies or the easily ruffled.

That being said (and hopefully taken to heart), I can honestly say this was my greatest guilty pleasure at the theater in 2007. While I guess it does sort of fall into that "gun porn" slot, it's really a lot more clever and slapstick-ish (albeit in a sick way, lol) than one might be led to believe. Think "Crank", but with even better action pieces, music and much funnier.

Outstanding casting too - Owen, Giamatti and Bellucci were clearly having fun, and it shows.

I saw this in the theater, bought the soundtrack (score only, none of the rockin' tunes you hear sprinkled throughout the flick sadly - still good though) and today picked up the blu-ray and it only further crystallized my initial reaction - I truly and totally dig this movie.

And the blu-ray transfer is incredibly beautiful, both visually & sound-wise. But maybe wait until it comes down a bit in price? I dunno...perhaps rent it first before you plunk down 30 bucks to add it to your library.

Total shame this didn't do much better at the box office. I think it was unfairly judged by critical pinheads in the popular press under the wrong light and far too harshly.

Can't wait to see what this director does next.

I thought this movie was great! It was great mindless action and corney one-liners. What do you expect from a movie called Shoot'Em Up! Overall it deserves about 3 stars, but I had fun watching it, and had to balance out the score against the snobs.

This movie is not to be taken so seriously. Lets put it this way the main character is eating a carrot all the way through the movie like Bugs Bunny. This is more of a cartoon live action performance than anything else. And if you can keep that in mind its a fun romp of a movie.

A cartoon adventure, but it does have Clive Owen (drool) and Paul Giamatti makes a great bad guy. There is great amusement to be had in how many guns go off and how many people don't get shot.

To say that this film is over the top at being over the top, would be as intellectually insightful as saying water is wet. There's not a single thing in this movie that can be taken seriously, despite the fact it's loaded with violence and adult themes, and therein lies the true charm of the spectacle.

Clive Owens plays the mystery man known only as "Smith." After he helps a women birth her child during a gunfight, he finds himself caught up in a web of outrageous political intrigue, with the baby's life, as well as his own, as the stakes.

This is basically a parody send up of every gun-blazing, ass-kicking, tough guy action film you've ever even heard about. Owens character never misses a shot (or the chance to chomp on some carrots), in shootouts that are not just overly exaggerated, but completely impossible, in many cases. You have Paul Giamatti as the sleazy hitman out to get him and the baby, with Monica Bellucci simply providing eye-candy, as the milk-giving whore helping Smith to save the child. There isn't a single moment that you can really take any of this seriously, but the filmmakers know this and don't just fail to apologize for it, but actually revel in it.

The choreography in the gunfights is superb. If you could actually pull off some of the stunts shown here, I fully believe the real would be as mindlessly violent as this film is. My favorite has to be the skydiving shootout, where physics and several universal laws of kinetic energy and gravity simply don't exist. This is to say nothing of the many machismo one-liners that are constantly thrown around throughout the film, which provide the perfect black humor to the massive amounts of killing going on. Of course, one can't forget the rocking soundtrack, complete with trashy metal sounds, from groups like Motley Crue and Motorhead, that only intensifies the sensation.

Is "Shoot 'Em Up" sexist? Yep. Is it somewhat homophobic? You betcha. Is it overly violent? Oh, hell yes! The film is all of that, as well as not having a single redeeming value within the whole product. Yet, despite all of this, it is still a rip-roaring, testosterone-fueled, slam-banging, out-of-control good time, that will charm it's way into your heart and have you quoting lines from it for days afterwards! If you are someone who's easily offended, or has delicate sensibilities, then this movie is one you probably should avoid. For everyone else, just sit back and watch the mindless carnage unfold. This is truly a guy's movie, for guys who like movies. And it is probably the guiltiest pleasure experience I've had in some time.