Military Movies - Military Times

‘Shoot ’Em Up’ delivers a high-octane bulls-eye

“Shoot ’Em Up,” a hyperviolent action movie in an increasingly crowded genre that includes “Domino,” “Smokin’ Aces,” “Sin City” and many others, could easily be called a bit cartoonish.

And that label might be reinforced by the knowledge that writer-director Michael Davis’s career of a little over a decade is sparsely populated with straight-to-DVD flicks that no one has ever heard of, for good reason.

And yet, for fans of the high-octane, guns ’n’ dames, noir-to-the-gut niche, “Shoot ’Em Up” is a diamond in the rough.

Let’s be clear: There is no redeeming moral value here. Davis’s goal was to devise a backdrop for the most outrageously loud and convoluted gunfights he could dream up.

One pits a wave of would-be assassins against Mr. Smith (Clive Owen), their would-be target — who happens to be in sexual liaison with Donna (sultry Monica Bellucci), the proverbial hooker with a heart of gold.

If this was all the film had going for it, you still might dismiss it. But wait; there’s more.

On top of the charms of the rugged, stubbly Owen, who did similar duty in “Sin City,” and the Italian beauty Bellucci (oh, that accent), “Shoot ’Em Up” also stands out for the great character actor Paul Giamatti’s turn as a sociopathic, ineffectual hit man who often must interrupt his wet work to take cell phone calls (ring tone: “Ride of the Valkyries”) from his shrewish wife.

Giamatti, a kind of human basset hound known for, among other memorable roles, his volcanic turn as radio producer Kenny “Pig Vomit” Rushton in Howard Stern’s 1997 film “Private Parts,” lets it all hang out as Hertz, the Rodney Dangerfield of hit men. He tangles with Smith after his goons chase a pregnant woman right by Smith’s nose one night as he sits sipping coffee at a bus stop. We’re never get Smith’s full story, but he’s clearly some spec-ops spook, with many MacGyver-like skills that include using raw carrots as deadly weapons.

Not only is the woman’s life in danger — her water is also breaking. Sighing in resignation, Smith rises and joins the adventure. In the ensuing gunfight, Smith delivers the woman’s baby, then seeks to drag her, the baby and himself out of this mess.

Unfortunately, she takes a stray shot to the forehead. Smith is about to leave the baby and beat feet, then a twinge takes hold and he grabs the infant while turning to face Hertz’s goons. Soon enough, their blood-spattered bodies are littering the floor of a cavernous warehouse.

And at this point, the opening credits haven’t even appeared.

Hertz does not give up easily, and keeps coming back for more, even as Smith circles back to peel away the clues to why these mooks so badly want the woman and the baby dead.

Along the way, Smith becomes Bugs Bunny to Hertz’s Elmer Fudd; there’s even a scene in which Smith munches on a carrot and mutters, “What’s up, doc?”

As literally dozens of his hired guns go down in flames before Smith’s otherworldly prowess, Hertz finally screams in frustration: “Do we really suck or is this guy really that good?”

Donna, despite her view that Smith is “the angriest man in the world,” is forced to join up when Smith comes to her for help with the baby and leads Hertz and his boys to her door.

Together with the baby, this odd nuclear family steals tender moments amid the waves of automatic weapons fire. At least they don’t have to worry about feeding the baby; conveniently enough, Donna, who caters to the infant fetish niche in her chosen avocation, is lactating.

Just as the droll sight gags, world-weary noir dialogue and adrenaline-soaked gunfire peak, Davis pulls out his most audacious ace — the premise for the entire affair boils down to the issue of … gun control.

And then he stages one more gunfight — this one between Smith and another squad of Hertz’s goons while freefalling from a plane at 10,000 feet with chutes strapped to their backs.

Clocking in at a refreshingly brisk 90 minutes, “Shoot ’Em Up” is a don’t-miss deal for hardcore action film fans.

4 stars. Rated R for violence, language and sexuality. Opens Sept. 7.