“Shoot ‘Em Up” breaks apart all of the barriers we assume in an action film, puts them in a paper bag, stomps on it with a steel-toed boot and reassembles it to a whacked out adrenaline rushed ride. This film is not for the faint of heart, it delivers pointless random acts of violence, sex and the misappropriate use of carrots.
The story follows Mr. Smith (Clive Owen) as a guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. After a shoot-out and baby delivery in a warehouse he is called upon to protect the child from multiple regiments of gunmen lead by Mr. Hertz (Paul Giamatti). If there can be a cross between Bugs Bunny, James Bond, Jason Bourne and John McClane you would get one Mr. Smith. Owen can slide, jump out of airplanes, deliver babies, shoot bullets out from his hand, make love, kill the bad guy and still maintain a healthy diet consisting of carrots.
Likewise, Giamatti and his ironic character name of Mr. Hertz portray an unlikely villain. He is like a loaded gun that is ready to shoot but is jammed up due to his ignorant, overconfident brain that becomes more enraptured by the chase rather than then the killing.
Where this movie lacks the Aristotelian form it more than makes up for it in its fast, energetic, non-stop attack action sequences. As a word of precaution, if you are the type of person who feels that this is a typical movie exposing children to guns and harming others please be relieved that the message in this film is quite reverse.
Our hero, Mr. Smith, doesn’t own a gun and only uses them to protect himself and others who are in harms way. He advocates gun control and instills this belief in the public, mind you he still has to kill hundreds of bad guys to get the point across but I can assure you that they will never fire a bullet again.
Written and directed by Michael Davis “Shoot ‘Em Up” is sure to be a hit to the younger generation where violent video games consume their waking hours and social lives.