Shoot ‘Em Up (****)
If I were writing this review in July, I would declare, without reservation, “Shoot ‘Em Up” the best movie of the summer. In fact, I’d even slap it on my best movies of 2007 list. But before any artsy fartsy types break out their berets and Oscar ballets, let’s get one thing straight: “Shoot ‘Em Up” doesn’t excel because of acting or a profoundly moving screenplay. Not even close.
This movie earns four stars because of the unapologetic way it approaches the bloody, non-stop violence and action that serves as the films foundation. I don’t want to use the word “cartoonish” to describe the action and violence, but truthfully, that’s the only word in the dictionary that fits. The filmmakers know they are going over the top and they make every minute worth the viewer’s money.
Clive Owen (“Children of Men”) stars as the movie’s reluctant, atypical hero, known by the moniker, Mr. Smith. Smith has no past, present or future, as far as we can tell, until he finds himself rescuing a pregnant woman (Ramona Pringle) from, what appears to be, her psychotic boyfriend. When the man pulls a knife and threatens the woman with a violent c-section, Smith intervenes and jabs a carrot through the man’s head – one of many scenes of carrot violence scattered throughout the 90 minute movie.
Soon after dispatching the woman’s attacker, Smith is delivering her baby boy and having a Wild West shootout with hordes of machine gun toting goons, led by Mr. Hertz (Paul Giamatti), a smart, eccentric hit man with a bad temper and a wicked sense of humor. Soon, the baby’s mother is dead and Smith finds himself jumping from building to building, protecting the baby and wondering why on Earth anyone would want to murder a newborn.
Smith goes to the only person he can trust, a hooker named Mary “DQ” White (Monica Bellucci). White lost a child many years ago and instantly bonds with the child. In fact, the duo hits the road, buying bullets with food stamps and a camouflage bullet proof vest for the baby, now given the name Oliver. Over and over again, Hertz sends waves of gunman to snuff Smith, Oliver and White, but Smith counters with creativity, accuracy and his desire to see the baby live. At one point, after sending more than 50 men after Smith, Hertz exclaims, “Do we really suck or is this guy really that good?”
Bit by bit, Smith starts to unravel the plot behind the mother’s murder and the Hertz’s desire to see baby Oliver dead. I won’t go into specifics, but it involves a United States senator, a gun company and, what appears to be, the FBI. Word on the street is the filmmakers added the majority of the story and plot after basing the movie on non-stop action. If that is the case, I couldn’t tell. In fact, it was a moot point. I was enjoying every intricately choreographed gunplay scene and all the quirky one-liners that any holes in the story were forgotten as the wince-inducing finale between Hertz and Smith played out.
I can’t sing enough praise about Paul Giamatti (Mr. Hertz) as an actor. From “Sideways” to “Cinderella Man” to “The Illusionist,” he is a pure joy to watch. Clive Owen appears to have not changed his clothes since “Children of Men,” but it’s easy to see why many folks though he’d become the next James Bond after Pierce Brosnan was jettisoned from the franchise. He delivers his one-liners with a cool smugness. Oh, and I can’t forget Monica Bellucci. Gorgeous doesn’t do her looks justice. She is exquisitely enchanting and numbingly beautiful and her Italian accent makes me bonkers.
“Shoot ‘Em Up” is fun from beginning to end. The action never gets old because writer/director, Michael Davis, mixes the non-stop action with humor and fresh stunts and choreography. It is mega violent with oodles of blood. In fact, the last scene made me look away. Something about broken bones makes me shudder. Still, “Shoot ‘Em Up is a surprisingly great movie in a depressingly boring movie season, and definitely worth the full price ticket this weekend.