Review of Shoot 'Em Up (2007) by Chads. — 18 Feb 2008
Smith(Clive Owen) is Bugs Bunny's translator. Thanks to "Shoot 'Em Up", the next time you see that "wascally wabbit" torment Elmer Fudd, you'll remember the carrot to the eye, or the carrot to the throat.
When Bugs bites into his taproot, it's the closest he'll get to firing a live round. "What's up doc?" probably means something along the lines of, "Why you hatin', Elmer?" To defend the violence in "Shoot 'Em Up", the advocate for this whimsically sick film would have to utilize the "it's only a cartoon defense".
Gamers, to paraphrase Carly Simon, will "probably think this [film] is about [them]", but they'd be wrong. You can die in a video game; a cartoon character, on the other hand, is impervious to death; that's why Smith chomps on a carrot in the opening minutes of "Shoot 'Em Up".
Thankfully, the filmmaker isn't hypocritical about the blood, semen, and yes, breast milk; to the very end, the movie is unapologetic about its body count, and other crimes effectuated in the name of bad taste.
Gun lobbyists like to defend their right to bear arms by saying that guns don't kill people, people kill people. "Shoot 'Em Up" illustrates this mentality when Smith kills another man with heated bullets discharging from the palm of his hand.
Stupid, right? So why does this geek show work? Its participants, chiefly, Clive Owen, never cracks a smile, never lets on that he know how entirely ridiculous this whole enterprise really is.
This review of Shoot 'Em Up (2007) was written by Chads. on 18 Feb 2008.
Shoot 'Em Up has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
