“It was apparent from the moment that Clive Owen impaled a carrot through the back of a man’s throat that I wasn’t going to care if this film offered any coherent script or story. I was going to enjoy this flick. And enjoy it I did. Suspend all reality and Shoot ‘Em Up is a more-than-delightful thrill ride of grandiose gunfights, brazen sexuality and dialogue riddled with copious amounts of some of the campiest cliches in the gunslinger genre.”
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It was apparent from the moment that Clive Owen impaled a carrot through the back of a man’s throat that I wasn’t going to care if this film offered any coherent script or story. I was going to enjoy this flick.

And enjoy it I did. Suspend all reality and Shoot ‘Em Up is a more-than-delightful thrill ride of grandiose gunfights, brazen sexuality and dialogue riddled with copious amounts of some of the campiest cliches in the gunslinger genre.

Clive Owen stars as Mr. Smith, a bum with a mysteriously advanced talent for hand-to-hand combat and an overdeveloped trigger finger.

When he witnesses the attempted murder of a woman in labor, Smith disposes of the assassin and assists in the delivery of the newborn. But caught in the crossfire of the multitudes of enemies closing in to secure the child, Smith must take the boy into his care. After seeking the aid of a recently post-partum prostitute, DQ (Monica Bellucci), the two head out on a citywide quest to shield the boy from Mr. Hertz (Paul Giamatti), the man leading the hunt.

Shoot ‘Em Up is a balls-to-the-wall flick that leaves reality at the door. The gunfights are ridiculously overdone. The action sequences parade a fluidity that rivals the most inspired of martial arts films, yet the writers provide a script that could be found in your favorite Bugs Bunny/Yosemite Sam cartoon.

The gore is gratuitously inventive and the acting is creatively ostentatious. The plot is uninspired, but who cares? There is no need to be intelligent, attentive or really even conscious to appreciate this movie.

Just turn off your brain and enjoy the kaleidoscope of hues from bullets, blood and brunettes. Those heading to this film for exquisite writing and Oscar-worthy performances will be sorely disappointed. Anyone just looking for one last summer blockbuster hoorah – check out Shoot ‘Em Up.

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” #1.1361891:1983869057.jpg:Shoot em up artBW.jpg:Clive Owen plays an assassin who slings weapons and cliches.:PHOTO COURTESY OF JAMES DITTIGER / NEW LINE CINEMA”