| Shoot 'Em Up | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster for Shoot 'Em Up |
|
| Directed by | Michael Davis |
| Produced by | Susan Montford Don Murphy |
| Written by | Michael Davis |
| Starring | Clive Owen Paul Giamatti Monica Bellucci |
| Music by | Paul Haslinger |
| Cinematography | Peter Pau |
| Editing by | Pater Amundson |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) | September 7, 2007 (wide) |
| Country | U.S.A. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $40 million |
| Official website | |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Shoot 'Em Up is a 2007 action/thriller film written and directed by Michael Davis (Monster Man) and produced by Susan Montford and Don Murphy. The film was released on September 7, 2007.
Contents |
Synopsis
The film follows Smith (Clive Owen), a down-and-out squatter with both an extensive military background and a fondness for carrots, who wants nothing more than to be left alone. Smith finds himself embroiled in a complex political conspiracy once he aids a pregnant woman who is being chased by a hitman. He takes the baby and goes on the run with a prostitute (Monica Bellucci). The unlikely family is trailed by the intelligent and ruthless Hertz (played by Paul Giamatti) and his army of thugs.
Cast
- Clive Owen as Smith
- Monica Bellucci as Donna Quintano
- Paul Giamatti as Hertz
- Stephen McHattie as Hammerson
- Greg Bryk as Lone Man
- Ramona Pringle as Baby's Mother
- Jane McLean as Madam Maddie
- Jason Reso as Senator's Guard
Production history
When writer/director Michael Davis's original concept was passed on by movie studios, he put together a 17-minute reel of animated footage, consisting of 17,000 line drawings, in order to give studio heads an idea of how the action scenes would play out. This got the attention of New Line Cinema CEO, Bob Shaye, who approved the project and accepted Davis to direct.[1] After signing Clive Owen and other actors, the film went into production in Toronto, Canada from February 13 to May 8, 2006. Though Variety initially reported a planned release during the holiday season of 2006,[2] and initial previews occurred in September of that year,[3] the film was eventually scheduled for release on September 7, 2007. Audience response at early screenings was reportedly mixed. The website Worstpreviews reported, "...the studio has screened it at several places with an overall audience response that it is nothing more than a big shoot-out....While many people do not see anything wrong with this, the problem is that the script started off with the shoot-outs and then had a plot thrown into it, and not the other way around."[4] Audience response from a screening at 2007's San Diego Comic-Con was reportedly much better, however.[5] Multilingual co-star Monica Bellucci dubbed her own voice for the French and Italian releases of the film.[6]
"Bullet proof baby" and other marketing
In the months leading up to the film's release, Shoot 'Em Up was promoted through various subtle means. For example, a promotional poster for the film was inserted into the Calypso Casino online multi-player level of the Rainbow Six: Vegas video game as part of an online game update. It was also promoted in the video game Crackdown in one of the city levels. Since July 2007, Shoot 'Em Up was publicized with a guerilla marketing campaign. The campaign included a viral video and website[7] selling bogus items ranging from bullet-proof strollers to riot helmets for infants. A video was released on YouTube in which the company claimed to test the bullet-proof stroller by shooting at it with an automatic rifle while a baby was in it.[8] The baby was then taken out of the stroller unharmed. It was all a prank,[9][10] but the campaign was nevertheless taken seriously by global media and the blogging community.[11] For instance, Sweden's biggest evening tabloid Aftonbladet had the story as its lead on their online edition for some time.[12] In August of 2007, national television commercials featuring the song "House of Wolves" by My Chemical Romance began airing. The official movie web site, theatrical poster, trailer and other marketing materials contained a visible punctuation error in the movie title: an incorrect single, open quotation mark (‘) was used instead of the correct apostrophe (’) to mark the omission of the "th" in "them" to form "em". While the error has been corrected on the case of the DVD released on January 1, 2008[13], the error remains on the official web site.[14]
Reception
Film critics' views on the film were sharply divided. Variety called the movie "violent and vile in equal measure," but "too stylistically audacious to dismiss outright."[15] Hollywood Reporter was more equivocal in its review, saying "Anyone looking for subtlety, character development or layered plotting will be disappointed, but action fans will find plenty to amuse them with this film that makes Hard Boiled look restrained," and that the film is "all very silly, but also undeniably fun...."[16] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praised the film (giving it three stars out of four) and called Shoot 'Em Up a "wet dream for action junkies [that] leaves out logic and motivation...."[17] Taking the opposite view, Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film one out of four stars, decrying the film's "jolly cruelt[y]," and calling the film "cruddy and vile" and "witless,"[18] and A.O. Scott of the New York Times went even further, calling the film "a worthless piece of garbage."[19] As of September 16, 2007, the movie-review aggregating website RottenTomatoes.com lists Shoot 'Em Up with a "Tomatometer" rating of 67% ("fresh") based on 125 reviews, with an average critic's rating of 6.3/10. The "Cream of the Crop" on that site gives the film a 54% ("rotten") rating based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10.[20] The film opened in the fourth place position for its first weekend, earning $5,450,000 from 2,108 theaters.[21]
Blu-Ray Disc & DVD Release
The movie was released on DVD and Blu-Ray formats on New Year's Day, January 1, 2008.[22] The HD DVD version of the movie will be released later than DVD and Blu-ray versions due to HD DVD lacking region coding.
Notes
- ^ http://www.worstpreviews.com/review.php?id=559§ion=preview
- ^ Ben Fritz (2005-06-05). Owen Targets "Shoot". Variety.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-22.
- ^ "Quint" (2006-09-14). Crazy Clive Owen/Paul Giamatti flick, SHOOT 'EM UP, tests! And.... Aintitcoolnews.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-22.
- ^ Shoot 'Em Up. Worstpreviews.com (2007-03-12). Retrieved on 2007-08-22.
- ^ Henry Ham (2007-07-27). Shoot 'Em Up Brings Down the House at Comic-Con. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2007-08-22.
- ^ Monica Bellucci's Balancing Act
- ^ bulletproofbaby.net
- ^ Bounty.com Mother tests out her 'bullet-proof' design
- ^ The Daily Telegraph Australia Bulletproof babywear, a viral marketing gag
- ^ Raising Kids Bullet-proof Baby Buggies
- ^ DollyMix.com Mums gone mad
- ^ Aftonbladet (Swedish) Här skjuter hon - på sin baby
- ^ Shoot 'Em Up (2007). Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-02.
- ^ Home Page. Shoot 'Em Up official web site. New Line Productions Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-01-02.
- ^ Peter Debruge (2007-07-31). Shoot 'Em Up. Variety. Retrieved on 2007-08-21.
- ^ Frank Scheck (2007-08-20). Shoot 'Em Up. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved on 2007-08-22.
- ^ Peter Travers (2007-09-04). Shoot 'Em Up. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
- ^ Michael Phillips (2007-09-07). Shoot 'Em Up Misfires With A Hollow Point. The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
- ^ A.O. Scott (2007-09-07). Never Mind Those Bullets, a Newborn Needs Rescuing. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
- ^ Shoot 'Em Up. RottenTomatoes.com (2007-09-08). Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
- ^ Shoot 'Em Up (2007). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
- ^ Shoot 'Em Up Caps Blu-ray. IGN. Retrieved on 2007-10-25.
