PLOT:
What happens when a pregnant woman crosses paths with Clive Owen while being chased by a bunch of gun happy thugs? Bullets blaze as this poor sap gets chased around by Paul Giamatti, and gets to pick up the hooker with a heart of gold, Monica Bellucci. Action and violence ensues, as the lucky audience members get to join in on the thrill ride.
REVIEW:
Put it this way… I don’t usually like to use phrases like “an adrenaline rush of a motion picture” or “a rock ’em sock ’em rollercoaster ride of a movie”. But I think it’s safe to say that both of these quotes would apply to SHOOT ‘EM UP. This is an intoxicating blast of a cinematic experience that not only has bullets firing at rapid speed, but it has Clive Owen, Monica Bellucci and Paul Giamatti. All three of these actors are pretty damn good, so seeing them in this kind of picture is a refreshing change of pace. Clive certainly makes you wonder what would have happened if he had become the next 007. But frankly, I’m glad he didn’t, because then we might not have this absolute blast of over-the-top violent fun.
One night somewhere in downtown hell, Mr. Smith (Owen) is enjoying a carrot while waiting for the bus. A crying pregnant woman runs by him and he watches her go. Then comes some goon saying he’s gonna “kill the bitch”. Mr. Smith, much to his dismay, feels compelled to go help her. Soon, there are tons of these goons, and a baby that he also feels compelled to save. He finds his way to a high class call girl named DQ (Bellucci) who he convinces to help him and the baby out. After all, what’s he gonna do? He can’t breast feed the little one. All the while, a really dangerous dude by the name of Mr. Hertz (Paul Giamatti) has a need to take care of this baby for reasons which you will find out if you put down your hard earned dollars to check this out. And should you check it out? Hell yes!
Director Michael Davis is on the ball with this one. He let’s loose and brings the action to new heights as he makes sure the audience is right in the middle of the shoot outs. The creative cuts and exciting visuals seem to have been used before, but at this level of intensity, it feels fresh and invigorating. He is also able to get some damn fine performances from his talent, not that it was really necessary for this film. But that’s just it… these people are truly talented. Clive Owen is one of the top actors out there, as is Paul and Monica. And he never makes it so their creativity is lessened in favor of action. I’m not saying that the script calls for much more than what a whole bunch of lesser actors can give, I’m just saying how nice it is that they really are good.
There is so much fun to be had, with guns blazing everywhere… during sex, at a playground, in the air… everywhere. It’s insane how many bullets are flying and body parts are flying about. And if you dig gore, you’ll have fun with this. Fingers blown off, bodies being pumped with ammo and even a nice bit involving a propeller. But if the gore freaks you out, the movie is so much fun that you can cover your eyes and wait until the next moment where you can cover your eyes again. This is a hard rocking flick that is on fire from the get go, with a few moments that will let you catch your breath. Sure you have to really suspend disbelief and a few of those slow down moments take you away from the action a bit. But these are minor quibbles to a movie that I might even call “Explosive! It’ll blow your mind!”. So, yeah, I recommend it.
My rating 9/10 — JimmyO