Shoot ‘Em Up
Dir. Michael Davis
Premiered at Comic-Con July 26, 2007
Shoot ‘Em Up is probably the third best action/thriller parody of 2007.
It starts out promisingly. A mysterious drifter known only as Mr. Smith (Clive Owen) sees a heavily pregnant woman running away from a random thug. He grudgingly gets involved, helping her give birth while blowing away a seemingly limitless number of assassins led by the conniving Hertz (Paul Giamatti). When the woman is killed in the crossfire, Smith brings the baby to a lactating prostitute named DQ (Monica Bellucci).
When the assailants keep coming, Smith and DQ try to keep the baby safe while figuring out what the hell is going on: the baby and its now-murdered siblings are being harvested for bone marrow for a leukemia-stricken presidential candidate (Daniel Pilon) who’s made a powerful enemy in the National Rifle Association.
Shoot ‘Em Up should be a joyously bloody send-up of ultraviolent B-movies of yore, but it’s no Strike Force Eagle 3: the Reckoning. Director Michael Davis apparently developed the film himself as a passion project, but I see no passion in his direction. The movie is startlingly unstylish in a way that drains all the fun out of the movie. It’s incredibly drab, and the cinematography is decidedly deficient in wide shots (it’s not totally without them, like some later action movies).
Most of all though, Shoot ‘Em Up suffers from way too much CGI: CGI blood, CGI sparks, CGI car stunts, CGI clouds. Obviously, some things in the film couldn’t have been done with practical effects, but most of the scenes, which should be very cool, are robbed of their weight, and thus of any adrenaline rush intended for the viewer.
It’s also trying way too hard to convince the audience that it’s taking place in the United States. Ostensibly set in a New York City with no recognizable skyscrapers, streetcars, the base of the CN Tower, and at least two character actors who had minor roles in Slings and Arrows, the movie makes no attempt beyond its dialogue to hide that it was shot in Toronto. Altogether, Shoot ‘Em Up wants to have fun, but even having fun requires effort, especially in a movie, and nobody seems to understand.
Except for Paul Giamatti. He gets it.
Signs This Was Made in 2007
The New Hampshire Primary is a major plot point. The film also believes that there is a level of bloodshed that could ever push Congress to push gun control measures.
How Did It Do?
Shoot ‘Em Up flopped. On a comparatively modest budget of $39 million, it grossed only $26.8 million, slaughtered in part by the contemporary wide release of 3:10 to Yuma. Would-be camp auteur Michael Davis, who already had five pictures under his belt, never wrote or directed a feature again. However, the film was well-received with a 67% fresh rating on RT and has developed something of a cult following.
Next Time: I Know Who Killed Me
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