The cast would suggest that this film has the potential to be an award winning film. Paul Giammati has starred and excelled in such films as Lady in the Water, Sideways and Cinderella Man; Clive Owen in Inside Man and Elizabeth: the Golden Age; Monica Bellucci in The Passion of the Christ, The Matrix Reloaded and, the controversial, Irreversible. The storyline suggests your average action-packed thriller. However, this well-cast action movie is a little different than what you'd perhaps expect.
Shoot 'Em Up tells the story of Smith, the kind stranger with a secret, who saves a pregnant woman from a deadly shoot out. After delivering her baby amidst showers of gun fire, the mother dies and Smith is left to protect the newborn infant from the criminals who were after his mother. He seeks Donna Quintano (Bellucci), a prostitute who has recently had a child herself, to feed the orphaned infant and she too gets caught up in the craziness of protecting the child from Hertz (Giamatti) and his band of gun-weilding criminals.
The film is as tongue in cheek as you can get. It is worth seeing for Owen's character alone. A lead who can eat a carrot and ask "What's Up Doc?" before shooting someone in the head (and still look cool!) or headbutt a scalpel just to get to the bad guy, wins in my book. The script is ok, the violence is non-stop and the slow motion action scenes are priceless, in a tongue in cheek kind of way. From Owen's carrot eating ways to the corny one-liners, the bloody violence and unbelievable shoot-outs, Shoot 'Em Up is as laugh out loud and shout at the screen funny as it is edge of the seat. As my husband aptly described it, this movie is a case of "leave your brain at the door, watch and enjoy". The director, Michael Davies, aimed to make a John Woo style action film and he certainly succeeded. In lots of ways, it is completely over the top and a parody of what a typical action movie would be, but it works.
The soundtrack is well-suited to the film and includes tracks such as "If You Want Blood" by AC/DC, "Breed" by Nirvana and WolfMother's "The Joker and the Thief",;however the soundtrack available to buy on amazon.com is the musical score, not the kind of songs mentioned, so be aware of this before you buy.
If you're looking for a fun action flick with a great rock soundtrack, lots of violence and LOTS of bad language then Shoot 'Em Up is for you.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: K.C. Bascombe - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jesse James, Rachel Skarsten, Charles Powell, Linda Purl, Kevin Zegars
Good concise stuff. I left the cinema with big beaming smile on my face after this - spectacularly entertaining! Better than Crank, but still some way of the quality of Drive, Ong-Bak and Hard Boiled in the action flick stakes, despite it's sheer enjoyability! Alboy
Expired-Account 20.11.2007 08:10
Not heard of this one, sounds good though, very helpful review
Bollinger28 15.11.2007 08:17
I know what your husband means - sometimes those "leave your brain at the door" films are just the ticket for relaxing and getting away from it all! Lexy
Advantages: Perfect for the action junkie - a highly stupid movie with bags of cool. Disadvantages: Not enjoyable if you forget to switch your brain off!
clownfoot 05.01.2009 (05.01.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Shoot 'Em Up (DVD)
Advantages: Perfect for the action junkie - a highly stupid movie with bags of cool. Disadvantages: Not enjoyable if you forget to switch your brain off!
clownfoot 05.01.2009 (05.01.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Shoot 'Em Up (DVD)
Nov 15th, 2007
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