Reviews by Matt

You know what I hate? People who just do not get it. People who think that all movies have to be taken seriously and must be taken at face value. That is why movies like “Grindhouse” have failed in the past, because people just do not get it. Maybe the concepts were too unusual for the general public to follow. I can only hope that a good old-fashioned action movie will be enough to become a box office success, but if this past weekend’s box office is any indication, America still does not get it.

“Shoot ‘Em Up” is the story of a man named Smith (Clive Owen) who witnesses a pregnant woman being chased by an armed man and goes to save her. He ends up in the middle of a shoot out during which he has to deliver the baby. When the woman is killed, Smith takes the baby to save it from the other gunmen and their boss Hertz (Paul Giamatti). Smith gets Donna Quintano (Monica Bellucci), a “lady of the night,” to help him keep the baby safe. Shoot out after shoot out Smith begins to piece together more about why Hertz wants the baby dead.

As I left the theater after “Shoot ‘Em Up” I heard one man say, “That was the second stupidest movie I have ever seen. It is supposed to be stupid, ripe with clichés and over the top. That is what this man missed. This movie is ridiculous and it knows it. How else do you explain how a bullet hits the hero only once and even then it is a superficial graze? After all the shootouts it is well over an hour into the movie before the hero is injured in any way. Even the circumstances of the various shootouts are out of the ordinary; Smith delivers a baby, has sex and is even skydiving during the multitude of shootouts.

Clive Owen is the man. He makes every movie he is in better and this movie is no exception. Smith is a mystery. We never get to find out anything about him, not even his first name. Hertz hypothesizes about who he thinks Smith is, but he is never give any indication if he is right or not. Owen plays Smith a lot like Dwight from “Sin City,” as a guy who is virtually emotionless. It is obvious he cares for the baby and wants to save him, but he never shows any real emotion. He is angry at the world and it shows. He only begrudgingly helps the pregnant woman and even almost leaves the baby alone when the mother is dead. He is constantly listing his pet peeves and correcting them, mostly with bullets.

He is given some of the best one-liners in the movie. In one car chase scene Smith shoots out his front windshield, unbuckles his seatbelt and crashes into an oncoming van. He flies through the window to the back of the van then he kills the bad guys inside and says, “So much for wearing your seat belt.”

Hertz is the exact opposite of Smith. He always seems to be angry or yelling. He is continually frustrated by Smith’s amazing ability to kill every man sent after him. He becomes obsessed with finding out who Smith is and to make sure he is killed. Hertz is very good at what he does. He can read people and seems to know what Smith is going to do. Of all the abandoned buildings in the city, he is able to pick out the one that Smith lives in.

Seeing “Shoot ‘Em Up” is a movie going experience. It is fun to watch and easy to enjoy. The action scenes are so over the top it is good. Some of the fun elements include the carrots Smith always seems to have on him. A few times it becomes a weapon or used to assist in doing as much damage as possible. In one scene he takes a bite of the carrot and jams the rest in the trigger of a gun and throws it at the bad guys. It is scenes like this that make this movie so much fun. The plot is secondary to the action, but it is done intentionally and makes the movie easy to watch.

I think that most people are going to see this movie like the man I overheard. It will be bashed because those who see it are going to think like he did. “Shoot ‘Em Up” is satire and nothing more than that. It is not supposed to be taken seriously. You are supposed to laugh at the ridiculousness of it. As a viewer all you are asked to do is sit back and enjoy the wild ride.


8/10
Rated R
87 mins