Thursday 20 September 2007

Shoot 'Em Up

IMAGINE a Van Damme film with more ideas, a better budget, marginally better acting and significantly greater stunts.
Because that's exactly what you'll get if you go and watch Shoot Em Up this weekend.
It's not exactly going to threaten Schindler's List or Casablanca but in terms of pure high-octane popcorn fodder, you couldn't ask for more and even makes recent action movies like Die Hard 4.0 look mild mannered in comparison.
The affable Clive Owen - who seems to just fall into hero roles these days - plays Smith, a reclusive man who just wants to be left alone.
But when he is minding his own business chewing on a carrot and waiting for a bus, a terrified pregnant woman runs past followed by a gun-wielding goon.

With a sense of moral duty overcoming his urge to walk the other way, he helps deliver the child and kill the bad guys all at once.
But then Smith finds himself in the position of a reluctant nanny as he protects the child from further hoards led by mob boss Hertz (played by Sideways star Paul Giamatti in a curiously refreshing role).
It's a simple premise with slick execution and as long as you just sit back, switch off and forget about the plot, chances are you'll enjoy it.
Envisage henchmen being departed in wild and wonderful ways - many involving the aforementioned carrot - and stunts that are as breathtaking as they are hilarious.