Shoot 'Em Up: A Review

They say that comedy involves risk. For Shoot ‘Em Up, that risk first comes to us as Smith, our “hero,” has to use a gunshot to sever an umbilical cord after helping a woman give birth in the middle of a gunfight. Hope you set your steel will in place for this one.

Smith is sitting at a bus stop when a pregnant woman runs by him, fleeing from some tough looking characters. Reluctantly, Smith comes to her aid, taking on the strangers and trying to rescue the woman. He fails, and the woman is killed shortly after the birth. With the newborn in his arms and having no real understanding as to what is going on, Smith determines to keep the child away from the bad guys.

I’m not sure that everyone who sees Shoot ‘Em Up will perceive it as a comedy, but it’s about the only thing that makes the film palatable. Standing in the tradition of Quentin Tarrantino (I’ll leave the question of whether it is a “grand” tradition in your hands), who himself was echoing John Woo and a long line of Hong Kong cinema, Shoot ‘Em Up is a satirical action movie that prides itself in capturing the absurd. It takes a classic American action setup - the lone action hero, drawn into a battle he can’t win, finds a way to overcome through grit and determination - and stretches it as far as it can. The action sequences have a lyrical quality, serving as a kind of ballet for alpha males. Even the obligatory female sidekick, this time a “fetish” prostitute with her own bizarre business, stretches stereotypes to the limit. It eventually draws us into an even more absurd political plot that makes Watergate look like shoplifting penny candy at a drug store.

For all of its grand action, the movie is kept more captivating than it deserves because of the great actors involve. Clive Owen, playing the hero “Smith,” shows the dark hero that will be familiar to fans of Sin City, while Paul Giamatti plays a truly despicable villain in Hertz. Owen gives us an understated performance, which contrasts well with Giamiatti’s broad performance. Between the two of them, we are drawn into their dance, “enjoying” an intense and fascinatingly bizarre ride.

Shoot ‘Em Up could serve as an easy escape for fans of extreme action film, but what is a Christian to do with this kind of exploration of violence? Like the Kill Bill series, this film explores the world of extreme action cinema, but Shoot ‘Em Up doesn’t wear its social commentary on its sleeve. Unlike Kill Bill, it sustains its sense as a revenge fantasy throughout, and to the uncritical eye, one could walk away from the film with a sense of affirmation of the extreme violence that it has explored. For this reason alone, many would reject the film outright.

The problem that Shoot ‘Em Up has is that it isn’t cleanly drawn. Yes, it’s a satire, but a satire of what? The extreme action genre? American violent entertainment? We’re not sure, and as the political plot unfolds, it is increasingly clear why. It’s hard to define what’s in view in the satire because in the end everything is in view in the satire. Nothing is sacred. Nothing is worthy of admiration. Like the Ecclesiastes writer, everything is meaningless.

I’m reminded of Jim, the bully from The Simpsons. After making some snide remark, a friend asks him, “Dude, are you being sarcastic?” He hangs his head and responds, “I don’t even know anymore.” Shoot ‘Em Up is an enjoyable entertainment as far as it goes, but as it pushes the absurd, with less art and style than a more capable director like Tarantino might exercise, it runs the risk of exhausting itself on its own cynicism. The great tradition of satire and absurd comedy works best when it offers a constructive alternative to the institutions or way of life that it cuts down. Shoot ‘Em Up has no idea how to go to that place.