Shoot'Em Up - Que la partie commence

An irreverent send up of action movie cliches that also manages to revel gleefully in them. It's got Clive Owen completely drenched in dedication, its got a bad guy that can't even give a good monologue, its got guns that only need reloading when it's convenient, its got one liners that laugh in the face at the very concept of a one liner. It's got a dark sense of humour but in the same sort of way that something like South Park does; It's harmless, with creative action and some truly laugh out loud gags. It's an indie-rock response to the seriousness of Bourne and the veneered ugliness of Bond. It acknowledges the silliness of action with all its love and heart. And post John Wick, I'm thinking it's time for more. Shoot Em Up is the Garth Merenghi pastiche of action rather than the Scary Movie parody. This film is not for everyone but it is for me.

Some of the comments left by people on here show just how clueless movie goers can be. As if you can't tell that there's a slight tongue-in-cheek feel to the movie. Doesn't the stupidly high kill count or OTT methods used to kill people make that obvious to you? Does a movie with the title "Shoot em up" sound like a serious piece of work? Come on some of you just need to relax and use your brains a little.

I haven't much to say on the movie itself since its ones of those "entertained me but probably won't buy the DVD" films I so often see in cinemas. Acting was good, action was good, plot was OK. Go see it. If you love it - great, if you don't - oh well. It really is one of those kind of movies. Just remember not expect a serious film reminiscent of James Bond or Die Hard, OK?.

A film that aims to be a parody on the extremeness and over-the-top tendencies of the action genre, and succeeds in becoming entertaining and exhilarating. I doubt there will be a more entertaining piece of work this year. It was so over-the-top and hilarious. Some of it did go a tid bit too far for me (the firefight while jumping out of a plane, the fact that there wasn't a single cop to be found) but all of the wild absurdity combined with an encompassing metal soundtrack and perfectly choreographed action made it one of the funnest movies I've ever seen. The clash of Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti certainly added a great stride to it, with Clive's deadpan hilarity and Giamatti's winning charisma. It's this extravagance and extreme unrealism that makes the film entertaining, but can also be a flaw from time to time. But it is absolutely impossible not to have an uproarious time watching Clive Owen shoot an umbilical cord to separate it from the mother, kill numerous people with a simple carrot, and (in my favorite scene of the film) have raunchy sex with Monica Bellucci whilst laying out an endless supply of armed hit men. Certainly something I could see myself re-watching time and time again.

Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti, and Monica Belluci star in "Shoot 'Em Up," a 2007 film that I believe is a parody of the action genre. It has to be.

Owen plays a former black ops who helps a woman deliver a baby and then finds himself on the run with the baby as hundreds of people chase him and shoot at him.

I won't go into the whys and wherefores. I will only say that it is non-stop action, with Owen shooting in all kinds of situations - sliding on oil leaks under cars, having sex, sitting, standing, running, jumping, parachuting out of a plane -- he never stops. When he's not shooting he's punching, knifing, or slamming someone's head somewhere. Or eating a carrot.

Monica Belluci is the hooker he asks to help care for the baby as the two of them run for their lives, the baby in tow wearing a bullet-proof vest.

The body count is unbelievable.

Exciting, fun, bloody, violent, and preposterous, you'll be on the edge of your seat rooting for him to make the world safe.

Someone once told me that movies are made for 15-year-old boys in Taiwan. This kind of action film definitely is. You can sit back and watch car chases, thermal guns, nudity, you name it - you don't need to know a word of English.

Clive Owen comes up against Paul Giamatti, and the two actors couldn't be more different. Owen is deadpan and deadly, Giamatti is a showman who can play an evil character like this or comedy with equal facility. I understand he recently played, of all things, Hamlet, and received wonderful reviews.

I really hope Clive Owen plays James Bond. I think he'd be wonderful.

Smith is minding his own business when he sees a heavily pregnant woman being pursued by an armed man. He defends her honour and, in the ensuing gun battle, he delivers her child just before she is shot. He flees with the infant but finds that the target is none other than the baby itself. Turning to a lactating prostitute for help, Smith remains a target for an increasing number of killers under the instruction of violent family man and contractor Hertz.

Let's get one thing out of the way here from the very start because I think it is one thing that all viewers can agree on whether you liked this film or not – it is utter nonsense. Not "silly" or "lacking logic" but just out and out nonsense. OK, so now that we have agreed that, what we shall disagree on is just how important that is in regards the enjoyment of this film. You see the film actually works on two very important levels which I think probably explains why it is generally well regarded on this site despite it being, well, nonsense. Instead of worrying about character and plotting and other things that most action films at least try to have, this just goes all out in a ballet of violence and guns that is about as close to action film pornography as I think I have ever seen. However at the same time it never takes itself seriously – a fact proved by just how bad some of the gimmicks (the carrots) and dialogue is as well as just how overblown the action is.

By doing this the film hits two audience sectors. Mostly obviously it will appeal to those who just love to see things explode, people die and guns look cool. No doubt it appeals to them because this is a film where the action is constant and even the sex scenes with gorgeous women turn into a gunfight where the phallic nature of the gun could not be made more obvious unless it had a pair of grenades taped either side of the barrel. It revels in violence and gun play, with the gun even forming a marriage band of sorts at one point. However what makes the film worth seeing is that it also appeals to those of us that like action but won't watch any old rubbish. Amazingly it does this by being so overblown and ludicrous that it actually takes the p1ss from the genre in a way that is fun to watch (and also allows those with intellectual aspirations to enjoy the violence while also distancing themselves from it). It sounds unlikely and it may have been a fluke but this is what the film does and it is really good.

I'm pretty sure it was planned because the cast seem sold on the sheer ridiculousness of it all. Owen is great in this dual action hero role and he puts himself 100% into it while also having his tongue in his cheek. Likewise Giamatti, who is not at his best here but yet still drives the mockery and effectiveness of his character. Bellucci concludes the starry cast with a so-so turn, which is perhaps understandable as she is solely here for her sex appeal (which is immense). The rest of the cast are either solid bit players with little to do or goons who fall over. Kudos to the effects department as well for the "baby", which manages to look real for the majority of the time.

Shoot 'Em Up is not a great film and it is based on nonsense but yet it somehow works. By being overblown to the degree it is, it works as both an excessive action film and also a pastiche on how excessive the action genre can be. It will not appeal to everyone even with this, but this made it work for me on both levels and it was much better than I expected it to be as a result.