Shoot 'Em Up

A dangerous British nanny (Clive Owen) protects a baby from a mercenary (Paul Giamatti).

Shoot ‘Em Up is an over-the-top send-up of action pictures that ends up out doing them all. This isn’t meant to be a live action film, but rather a live action cartoon (there’s running Looney Tunes gag throughout the whole movie) whose sole purpose is to take the supposedly “believable” stunts from action pictures and ratchet them up several degrees. Writer-director Michael Davis succeeds in topping himself with each set piece, as he comes up with more and more unbelievably stylish ways for Clive Owen to off the never-ending supply of baddies.

And speaking of Owen, he and Giamatti make perfect foils for one another, as they both deadpan their one-liners and glare menacingly across the screen. Their performances are almost as entertaining as Davis’s set pieces.

Unfortunately, the trick with a movie like this is to find the right balance. You have to take the cartoon aspect seriously, while taking the traditional plot with a grain of salt, and this is where Davis stumbles. The movie is almost perfect except for one scene where Monica Bellucci’s character explains what happened to her first child. This brings the ride to a screeching halt. Thankfully, Davis rights himself fairly quickly and gets back on track to a great ending.

While not quite as good as Hot Fuzz, this is still one hell of a ride.