Review of Shoot 'Em Up (2007) by Timothy S — 15 Mar 2012

"Shoot 'Em Up" is a film that I desperately wanted to like a lot more than I actually did. It's got a great couple of leading men, a new but very promising director and enough energetic, eye-popping action to fill two similar movies.

Clive Owen is a lot of fun as the mysterious hero, but it's Paul Giamatti who steals the show. It's so entertaining to see this award winning, respected actor hamming it up in this depraved, outlandish performance that it's pretty much worth the price of admission alone.

Michael Davis has an amazing flair behind the camera as the plentiful action sequences are choreographed as well as most Broadway musicals. That's all great, but in the same respect, that's also part of the film's major problem. Everything in this is so over-the-top that even at a brief eighty minutes, it wears out its welcome long before the end credits roll. The film would have been a lot cooler if it didn't try so hard to be cool. Touches like Owen's love of carrots reek of desperation, and when he used them as weapons, it's kind of silly.

In fact, the entire plot is kind of silly, having something to do with babies being killed because they could be organ donors for a politician. You just have to wonder where that came from. Just when I was ready to write off "Shoot 'Em Up", I was reminded that there is a lot to like here. It's just such a shame that Owen and Giamatti are having a lot more fun on screen than anyone in the audience.