Shoot 'Em Up

September 7th, 2007. The theatrical release date of Shoot 'Em Up and 3:10 to Yuma. I had literally been waiting on this day for close to a year. I haven't seen 3:10 to Yuma yet (I'm saving it until this coming Western Wednesday), but I must say that Shoot 'Em Up lived up to my expectations and instantly maneuvered its way into my Top Three Crazy Action Movies list. (The other two, in case you were wondering, are Crank and Transporter 2, which coincidentally both star another Brit, Jason Statham.)


You'll know WAY before you actually lay eyes on this film whether you'll like it or not. It's over-the-top, nonsensical, physics-defying, ridiculous, and packed literally from open to close with action. I loved it. As evidenced by its embarrassingly small $5.5 million opening weekend, the general public doesn't necessarily appreciate these kinds of movies. But Shoot 'Em Up (seriously - just look at the title!) doesn't hide its intentions and is a loving gift from director Michael Davis to action junkies everywhere.

Apparently Davis has come out and said that the movie was inspired by the hospital scene from John Woo's 1992 classic Hard Boiled*, and it doesn't take a genius to draw comparisons between the two films. Both feature a seemingly endless supply of ammunition being fired, huge body counts, and fantastic opening scenes (the teahouse shootout from Hard Boiled is widely known as one of the coolest shootouts in film history). I don't want to give too much away when it comes to Shoot 'Em Up, because I really want you to see this movie. It's a short 80 minutes long and it understands there's no need for Lord of the Rings lengths here. Eighty minutes is plenty of time to wrap up the loosely-tied plot, which is the second in as many years that revolves around Clive Owen protecting a child while dodging bullets. Owen plays Mr. Smith, a child-prodigy-gunman-turned-unemployed-bum in an unnamed American city. With a baby in his arms, he shoots his way to an old lover of his, a prostitute by the name of DQ (played by Italian actress Monica Bellucci, The Matrix sequels, The Passion of the Christ). DQ becomes the surrogate mother for the child, and aids Mr. Smith in protecting the little boy from the evil Mr. Hertz, played eccentrically by Paul Giamatti, who has been hired to kill the child for reasons unknown to us until the climax of the film.

The action scenes were innovative and original, hilarious at some points, and just plain fun all the way through. Mr. Smith is never in any real danger of being killed, although at times he is literally unarmed and surrounded by gunmen and miraculously manages to escape. Suspension of disbelief is a required element to enjoying this movie, but if you can do it, then I almost guarantee you'll be immensely entertained. Clive Owen chews on a carrot for most of the film, an obvious reference (coupled with the line "What's up, Doc?") to the classic Bugs Bunny cartoons that evoke the same principles. The car chase scene is fantastic, and keep your eye out for a scene where Mr. Smith expresses his displeasure for bad drivers. Here's a clip (starting at 1:17) of one of the many shootouts, and you'll get a good vibe for what kind of movie it is right off the bat.



Shoot 'Em Up is a unifying force, with frat guys and fanboys alike sure to be singing its praises based solely on its ridiculous qualities and the fact that there's a "smokin' hot chick" in it. I'm not saying that we're better than them, but I guarantee that most of them wouldn't see the symbolism of severing an umbilical cord with a bullet or hiding in a tank from members of the government. While it could be "mindless" entertainment if people choose to view it that way, they'd be missing out on the director's goal: to make a parody of the genre in such a way as to provide viable political commentary and satisfy the cravings of action junkies at the same time. But I'll step down off this high horse. The movie was fun. Go see it. I'm sure it'll have some pretty cool bonus features when it comes out on DVD in (I'm guessing) four months. Stay tuned for a review on 3:10 to Yuma, and we'll see if September 7th was all I hoped for or just half of what I hoped for. Until next time...

*The hospital scene from Hard Boiled is literally about 40 minutes in length. I found this clip on YouTube that edited together a few of the main sequences, so check it out if you're interested. And if you think THAT'S ridiculous, then go see Shoot 'Em Up.

Death Sentence

Death Sentence was refreshingly short, incredibly violent, emotional, and well-directed. Most importantly, it relied on the story to move the film along instead of playing leap frog with action scenes. In a time where screenwriters seem to think that movies need to be two and a half hours long (Pirates 3, I'm lookin' at you!), it was good to see a film that said what needed to be said and didn't drag it on for another forty minutes to meet some sort of invisible deadline.


The ever-versatile Kevin Bacon stars as Nick Hume, a father whose life is torn apart when his son is killed before his eyes in a gang killing at a gas station. John Goodman plays a minimal (but humorous) role, but the "off the radar" star was Garrett Hedlund, who played the leader of the gang and was almost unrecognizable from his typecast role as the "pretty boy" in his earlier films. He starred in Friday Night Lights, and played Achilles' cousin Patroclus in Troy; I think his best performance (prior to Death Sentence) was as one of the titular Four Brothers in John Singleton's 2005 movie. The cast stood out as one of the strong points of the film, with the exception of some unintended laughs from the audience due to intense over-acting in questionable situations. Over-acting aside, they did a great job pulling the emotion out of the viewer and really making you feel for the characters.

Australian director James Wan (Saw, the unintentionally hilarious-looking Dead Silence) really did a great job putting this film together. The pacing was great, the style was awesome, and there were some really cool long one-shots, which I always enjoy watching. There were never any bright colors showcased, instead favoring a muted color palette which added to the bleakness of the movie (hearkening back to the visual flair of Saw). The progression of Bacon's character as he spiraled out of control was nicely portrayed and even the music, which rarely stands out to me in films, added to the intense emotional drama involved in the story. The camera work was great, using crane shots to drop us in on the different groups of characters and give a "slice of life" feel to the whole process.

The movie definitely drew on previous material for inspiration, with similarities to Falling Down, The Punisher, Man on Fire, and Taxi Driver that can't be ignored. It's even based on a book by the writer of Death Wish, the 1970's revenge flick that defined the genre. And with Jodie Foster's The Brave One coming out soon, this begs the question: are revenge movies on the rise again? Some claim the political landscape of our country right now is similar to the feelings of the 1970's and early 80's, when crime rates in large cities skyrocketed and people felt helpless and angry because they couldn't control the growing problem. This time, its our situation in Iraq that people are feeling hopeless about, so they need some sort of cathartic release to help forget about their problems. Aisha Tyler's character says at one point "Everyone thinks they're right in a war, but everyone dies in the end."

I for one mostly agree with this point of view, but I also think that coincidence definitely plays a role. Just because two movies of the same genre come out at the same time, does that qualify as a "resurgence of the genre?" I don't think so. If that was the case, then we've had so many genre resurgences over the years that it's not even funny: Antz and A Bug's Life, Deep Impact and Armageddon, the list goes on. I think that at least three movies of the same genre have to come out in the same season for it to be considered a real resurgence AND two out of the three movies have to do really well at the box office.

I thought this movie was all about relationships with the father figure. The gang members didn't have it, so they resorted to a brotherhood amongst themselves. Kevin Bacon's family was obviously a main part of this, with the "golden boy" child killed early in the film and the artistic younger child coping with the guilt of "should it have been me instead?" The leader of the gang had a terrible relationship with his father, and (I'm not going to give it away) that was certainly resolved in an interesting manner. Even Kevin Bacon's relationship with authority, the Uncle Sam father figure, was an interesting look at James Wan's political decisions - generally when you make the police completely useless in a film, you're trying to say something about the state of our country.

Overall, I thought it was worth seeing. The violence is concentrated into a few harsh scenes, so it's not completely bloody throughout, and watching Bacon's transformation is mesmerizing. Give it a "shot," and check this one out. It's not a must-see-in-the-theater kind of movie, since there aren't any amazing graphics or anything that deserves big screen treatment, so if you don't get to it now then definitely give it a rent. If you try to look a little deeper, I think you'll be pleased with it. Until next time...

The Bourne Ultimatum

Two posts in one day: that's a rare thing to find from me. But I just got back from seeing Ultimatum, and I figured I might as well get it out of the way, especially since I just wrote an article about summer movies.


Surprisingly, I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would. I had really low expectations coming in because of my bad experience with The Bourne Supremacy and its style, and I heard that Paul Greengrass was back again to direct this one. Naturally, I thought Ultimatum would be completely hand held and shaky. I was wrong. Only about 60% of it was hand held. So that actually wound up as a nice surprise for me, and made for a more enjoyable movie watching experience.

The action was awesome in this installment, and (dare I say it) this was one of my favorite sequels of the summer. I didn't want to get into this topic since it's seemingly being talked about all over the internet, but after seeing this movie I think I should at least post my thoughts on the matter: Bourne would destroy Bond in hand to hand combat, no question about it. In this flick, Bourne's fighting with some assassin in a bathroom and it's the most bone-crunching intense fight scene I've seen since The Protector. Don't get me wrong, I love Bond and I really like where they're going with the tougher Daniel Craig stepping in to renovate the franchise, but Bourne would definitely take him to the house.

(Spoiler Alert in Next Paragraph.)

The story was pretty good, but tell me what OTHER film you've seen all that uses all these elements: A lone soldier-like figure who doesn't like authority, being used as a weapon, brain washing, amnesia, the return to the place it started in a search for the truth behind it all, only to discover that he volunteered for the procedure himself, and Brian Cox is involved. If you said X-Men 2, you're absolutely right. It seemed to me that the plot was ripped directly from the origins of Wolverine, but I haven't taken the time to research whether Robert Ludlam's (the author whose works are the basis for the Bourne movies) books came out before or after that part of Wolverine's history was revealed in the comics. I don't have the resources (and more importantly, the patience) for that kind of research. So I'm merely pointing out the plot similarities.

As my dad pointed out, the editors did a good job keeping the shots really tight and the pacing of the film was fantastic. If I was going to sit through those dizzying hand held shots, I was happy each one didn't last too long on screen. Yes, I understand that's the look and feel the filmmakers are trying to achieve, and I appreciate what they're trying to do (make us feel as if we, the audience, are in Bourne's shoes) but I'm just not a fan of that particular aesthetic on screen. And of course, it leaves the ending open with the possibility for more sequels. (Sigh.) Why can't series just end anymore? If you're like me and are hesitant about seeing this, I'd say give it a shot and take a chance. If you can get past the shaky camera, then you'll be fine and you'll definitely be entertained for two hours. Until next time...

Summer 2007

I've been to the movies a lot this summer, and the amount of posting I've done has been pathetic. So I'm going to go through each movie I've seen in the past few months and give you my brief thoughts for each one. Here we go...

Spider-Man 3: Way too much going on in this sequel. Too many villains, not enough action, too much emo. Bryce Dallas Howard was a nice addition to the cast, but only if she replaced Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane would I truly have been happy with this movie. Check out my full review of it here. Sam Raimi is in talks to produce (and possibly direct) the fourth film, whenever that goes into production, but none of the other cast members have signed on yet.

Pirates of the Carribbean: At World's End: I hated it. It was insanely long and, aside from some cool special effects that we've already seen in Dead Man's Chest, not worth the pay off. The ending was incredibly unsatisfying, and I shudder to think that they're talking about making spin-offs and even more sequels to this franchise that should have quit while they were ahead after Curse of the Black Pearl (which I loved, by the way).

Knocked Up: Really funny. I got some free tickets to see this one from my hookups with the CW, and I almost wish I would have paid for it to support the guys who made this. Although, with Superbad, The Pineapple Express, Drillbit Taylor, and more heading to theaters soon, Judd Apatow and his "Jew-Tang Clan" (a phrase coined by Seth Rogen - the star of Knocked Up - referring to the group of actors Apatow uses in his films) will be more than compensated for their comedic efforts.

Mr. Brooks: Kevin Costner and William Hurt did a good job with their dark psychological battling, but the thing everyone was talking about was how phenomenal Dane Cook was in his first dramatic role. Honestly, I thought that he could have been interchanged with any one of 40 different male actors his age in Hollywood and the film would have had exactly the same impact. I didn't really think he was that great. The whole concept of this movie is WAY better executed (on every level, from acting to cinematography to story) in the Showtime TV series Dexter. I'd highly recommend it, although it IS about a serial killer, so be warned: language and blood can be found in high quantities.

Ocean's Thirteen: These guys aren't even trying anymore. It's the same cool, breezy, jazz music-filled heist caper as the first two films, but with Pacino as the main bad guy. If you like the other two, you'll like this one. They seem like they have fun making these movies, and I'm a fan of them, so I'm fine with them pumping out one every couple of years as long as they keep bringing on cool "guest stars" like Pacino and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Perhaps Robert DeNiro will make an appearance by the time Ocean's 15 rolls around.

1408: This was one of my favorite movies of the summer. John Cusack was fantastic, the story was good, and it has Samuel L. Jackson in it. What else could you ask for? Oh yeah, and it was intense as hell. I loved it. I haven't gripped my seat like that in the theater in years. Highly recommend it.

Live Free or Die Hard: Awesome stuff. Bruce Willis does it again, and the action was superb. I have to admit, I doubted the idea when I first heard they were going to make a Die Hard sequel this late in the game, but it proved me wrong on every level. I just hope that John Rambo can have the same success when that hits theaters. The director, Len Wiseman, has just been tapped to make a "Gears of War" film based on the XBox video game and also a remake of John Carpenter's Escape From New York, so we'll see if either of those do half as well as LFoDH.

Transformers: Another summer favorite. Extremely hyped, but lived up to it thanks to a good performance from Shia LaBeouf, the action debut of Megan Fox, and some stellar computer graphics. Check out my comparison with Live Free or Die Hard here.

License to Wed: Pretty average romantic comedy. I saw this for the same reason that anyone else saw it: I'm a fan of The Office. This was one of John Krasinski's first movies, so I figured I'd see what he was like in a role that wasn't "Jim." Little did I know, he was practically the same character. And you know what? I wasn't too mad about it. Mandy Moore, Robin Williams, and some cast members from The Office rounded out the rest of the cast for this predictably formulaic film. But Mandy Moore is pretty awesome in my book, so we'll leave it at that.

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry: Abysmal. I can't express to you how little I thought of this film. I didn't want to see it in the first place, but I pulled "wingman" duty for a friend, and it was one of the worst mistakes of my life. Did you ever see the Pink Panther remake with Steve Martin? I literally did not crack a smile in that whole movie, and this one was almost as bad. I laughed maybe three times. Pitiful. I don't even want to talk about it any more. I'm getting pissed off just typing about it.

The Simpsons Movie: I've only seen about two or three episodes of The Simpsons in my life, so I wasn't expecting much when I inexplicably saw the midnight showing of this movie in the theater. It surprised me, though - it was pretty funny. Average, but funny. I laughed a lot more than I did in Chuck and Larry, I'll tell you that much. Keep in mind that I wasn't necessarily privy to the inside jokes specifically for those who have watched the show for years, so I didn't really get the full effect. But I thought it did a good job of entertaining me even though I wasn't a die hard fan. (Did you know that show has been around since 1989 and has aired 400 episodes?? Ridiculous.)

Summer's not quite over yet, but it's hard to draw the line where "summer" really ends (back to school, the real end of the season, blah blah blah). So that's all I've got for now. But I plan on seeing all of the movies listed in the "Trailers" section of this page, so hopefully I'll be able to write a little something about each one of them when the time comes. Stay tuned, and I hope you had a great summer. Until next time...