Shoot 'Em Up 2007 Action Comedy Film

A Drifter Engages in a One-Man War to Protect a Newborn Baby

Sep 18, 2009

Drifter, Smith, is thrown in at the deep end when he helps defend a pregnant woman and her newborn baby from a group of nasty gun toting hitmen.

A drifter stumbles upon a pregnant woman moments before she gives birth, and is forced to protect the newborn baby from a host of gun wielding bad guys who want to kill the innocent child.

Drifter (Clive Owen) aids a pregnant woman who is being pursued by several gun toting men. She gives birth and is killed. The drifter, Smith, a man with extensive military experience and a fondness for carrots, takes the newborn to lactating prostitute Donna (Monica Bellucci). The unlikely pair are chased by a ruthless hitman Hertz (Paul Giamatti) who is trying to kill the baby.

Why Hertz is trying to kill the innocent child is revealed in the occasional breaks between the almost continuous gunfights.

Brilliantly Ridiculous Film

Shoot ‘Em Up is an over-the-top film in which the hero Smith goes from one gun fight to another whilst barely getting a scratch. He likes carrots and on occasional incorporates them into the gun play. His past is never fully revealed, but it is obvious that he has got some kind of military background, most likely in the Special Forces.

The plot has something to do with a US Senator and gun control but the point of the film is Owen running around blowing people away with a variety of weapons. Everything about the film is ridiculous; Owen has more guns than Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando, and is even able to kill several bad guys during a sex scene

Giamatti is a sneering and generally unpleasant hitman, who is frequently called by his unseen wife (who doesn’t know he is a hitman for hire). He is a comedy figure who is left floundering by the sudden and unexpected arrival of Smith, who has absolutely no reason to be involved with the baby.

Shoot ‘Em Up is a film that does exactly what it says on the tin. Anyone expecting to see anything other than marvellously choreographed action sequences will want to give this one a miss.

The film is obviously not meant to be anything other than a straight up action movie with a wafer thin plot. The story goes some way to explain why everyone is running round shooting at one another but realistically why they are doing it is largely irrelevant. The story doesn’t matter, who really cares about the story when armies of bad guys can be knocked over like dominoes?

Everything about Shoot ‘Em Up is done to extremes, it is not a half baked action film, it seems that Director Michael Davis decided if he was going to do an action film then he would do a action film with little to no focus on the story, or character development. The best way to win approval for anything is to give the people what they want and Shoot ‘Em Up delivers what it promises.

Any fans of action films who enjoy watching dozens of people getting shot in preposterous ways with the occasional sex scene or flash of nudity thrown in for good measure will not be disappointed. This is not the first time Owen has done action films and seems completely at home with the wise-cracking Smith, and Bellucci plays a-tart-with-a-heart, both of whom don’t want any harm to come to the baby.

Shoot ‘Em Up is a great check your brain at the door film, so do just that, and then sit back and enjoy

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