(2007) 2.5 Jason Buchanan If movies could have siblings, Shoot 'Em Up would be Children of Men's big, dumb, Red Bull-addicted brother with an iPod full of heavy metal and a serious John Woo fetish. An audacious, hyper-violent tribute to Looney Tune hysterics, it's the kind of film that never for a moment makes any pretensions about what it is trying to say or achieve, existing purely to kick action fans in the pants by giving them situations they've never seen on the screen before and then some. In this respect, it succeeds; viewers who have always wondered what it would be like to see a shoot-out during childbirth, during sex, and during a free fall from an airplane will likely feel that they have earned their money's worth with just these three scenes alone. Unfortunately, more demanding action fans who expected Hard-Boiled on Crank after seeing the amazingly kinetic animations that earned Shoot 'Em Up the green light will likely feel as if there could have been so much more to this by the time the credits roll. Sure, the combination of hyperactive gunplay and bombastic soundtrack both serve well to keep the viewer awake and fixated on the screen, yet despite this formidable storm of lead and metal, it's hard to truly get involved in the action since the plot is a muddled mess, the talented cast is given little do, the screenplay is laughable (where did that robot baby come from?), and the direction is amateurish at best. With actors like Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti brandishing the hand cannons, one would expect this to be an over-the-top action flick with quirky character beats to spare -- unfortunately that's just not the case. From Owen's misanthropic, carrot-munching hero to Giamatti's henpecked, Freemason-pinned baddie, it ultimately feels as if that the framework for these characters was constructed from Popsicle sticks and Elmer's glue and then left outside to weather the elements. Sure Shoot 'Em Up is the kind of film that more than makes up in bravura what it lacks in sense and good taste -- and for some viewers that may be enough to consider it a success -- but in the end, the action falls a bit flat due simply to the fact that the driving creative force behind the film can't quite seem to muster up the talent needed to back up his bold ambition.

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Shoot 'Em Up (2007)

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genres

Action

sub-genres

Action Thriller

category

Feature

directed by

Michael Davis

countries

USA

release date

September 7, 2007 (USA)

run time

86 min.

produced by

New Line Cinem, Murphy, AngryFilms, Montford

released by

New Line Cinema

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	Title/Studio	Release Date
	Shoot 'Em Up [2 Discs] [Blu-ray/DVD] New Line Home Video More	August 30, 2011

	Shoot 'Em Up [Blu-ray/DVD] [Includes Digital Copy] Alliance Films (Canadian) More	August 23, 2011

	Shoot 'Em Up [With Sucker Punch Movie Cash] [Blu-ray] New Line Home Video More	March 15, 2011

	Shoot 'Em Up EIV More	January 21, 2008

	Shoot 'Em Up [Blu-ray] EIV More	January 21, 2008

	Shoot 'Em Up New Line Home Video More	January 1, 2008

	Shoot 'Em Up [Blu-ray] New Line Home Video More	January 1, 2008

	Shoot 'Em Up [French] Universal Home Video (Canadian) More	January 1, 2008

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