Review of Shoot on Sight (2007) by Aris M — 25 Aug 2008

The title of the film may seem to some as somehow misleading in that, as the film progresses, it becomes obvious that the incident of the police shooting is not the main plot but mostly the event that frames the conflict of the central character between his faith and his profession, his Asian origins and the Western society he lives in.

It is obvious that the film is a genuine attempt to address issues of islamophobia and racism, terrorism and organised religion in post-7/7 London and there is a clear effort to show things from many perspectives, avoiding black-and-white, clear-cut distinctions.

But sadly enough the film hardly ever surprises, even as it keeps you engaged and makes you enjoy a couple of hours of decent filmmaking. The characters are quite predictable more or less and, apart from the very good performance of the leading actor, there is also some pretty bad acting (e.

G. the daughter) and really awkward scenes and dialogue lines. What I'm most unsure about with this film, however, is its own stance towards the issues it touches upon, and the conclusions it draws, especially when one of the initially "bad" British white policemen is shown to be one of the good guys after all, to whom the main character turns for help in the end - I mean a guy whose major punchline in the film is 'maybe not all Muslims are terrorists, but aren't all terrorists Muslims?'.