Shoot 'Em Up
2007 · Directed by Michael Davis
Original language: English
- action
- thriller
- comedy
- crime
The story
A man named Mr. Smith delivers a woman's baby during a shootout, and is then called upon to protect the newborn from the army of gunmen.
What it’s like
Saturated, cartoonish colour and deliberately overcranked action, with blown-out highlights, sweeping crane moves and a constant sense that the camera is grinning at its own excess. Its urban spaces are grimy alleys, rain-slick streets and bare warehouses lit in hard, stylised contrast, and the soundtrack leans on pounding rock and hip-hop cues that hit like punchlines. The vibe is loud, irreverent and gleefully over the top, the kind of thing to put on for a Friday-night pile-on with friends or a late, wide-awake binge when you want chaos with a wink. Pacing is relentless, with short bursts of quiet giving way to set-piece gunfights and chases, and the tone swings between brutal and absurd, so death arrives constantly and often as a joke. The core relationship is a hard-bitten loner who reluctantly becomes a protector, and his bond with the mother and infant is more rough affection than sentiment. Intensity is high: frequent, bloody gunplay and stabbings, crude language, sexual innuendo and some nudity, with violence played for comic exaggeration rather than dread. It suits viewers who enjoy hyperbolic action comedy and are not looking for anything gentle or restful.
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