Friday 7 November 2014

Shoot 'Em Up (2007)



I first became aware of this film about five years ago, when a work colleague at the time mentioned this "terrible" DVD she'd watched on the weekend.  I took that as a challenge, and borrowed the film from her.

On the following day...

Me: "You did realise it was a send-up, right?".
Her: "Oh ... I wondered if it was supposed to be funny or serious."
Me: "He stabs a guy in the head with a carrot."

The carrot killing happens about three minutes in, by the by, and is probably the 10th or 11th clear sign that this is not a film that is meant to be taken seriously.

A guy sitting at a bus stop sees a hitman chasing down a pregnant woman.  He intervenes and kills the assassin, then the dozens of other goons that come running in later.  In between massacring bad guys by the truckloads, he helps the woman deliver her child.  Alas, she dies shortly afterward, courtesy of the hitmen's leader (played with manic glee by Paul Giamatti).

Our hero - he calls himself "Smith" - takes the child to a prostitute who specialises in nursing fetishes (i.e. she is lactating).  The bad guys are hot on his tail though, and soon, he and his lady friend and the bub are on the run once more.

This is a hugely silly and over the top film, from the deaths by vegetables to the monotone one liners to skydiving gunfights.  If you watch it in the manner it is intended, it's huge fun - or at least I found it to be - but if you like your action a bit less gonzo or your humour in any way more sophisticated than "how can we top the last ridiculous set piece now?", then you probably won't enjoy it.


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