Shoot 'Em Up

Infobox Film
name = Shoot 'Em Up

---

caption = Theatrical poster for "Shoot 'Em Up"
director = Michael Davis
producer = Susan Montford
Don Murphy
Rick Benattar
writer = Michael Davis
starring = Clive Owen
Paul Giamatti
Monica Bellucci
Stephen McHattie
Greg Bryk
music = Paul Haslinger
cinematography = Peter Pau
editing = Pater Amundson
distributor = New Line Cinema
released = September 7, 2007 "(wide)"
runtime = 86 min.
country = U.S.A.
language = English
budget = $40 million
gross =
followed_by =
website = http://www.shootemupmovie.com
amg_id = 1:329115
imdb_id = 0465602

"Shoot 'Em Up" is a 2007 action/thriller/black comedy [Belanger, Joseph. [http://www.ioncinema.com/news.php?nid=1091 Interview: Michael Davis] . Ioncinema.com. August 29, 2007. ] film written and directed by Michael Davis ("Monster Man") and produced by Susan Montford, Don Murphy and Rick Benattar. [ [http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/09/07/movies/07shoo.html Shoot 'em Up (2007) - Movie - Review] , New York Times, September 7, 2007 (retrieved 2008-04-22)] The film was released on September 7, 2007.

Plot

The film follows "Mr. Smith" (Clive Owen), a drifter with what appears to be 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. After the woman is killed, he takes the baby and goes on the run with a lactating prostitute, played by Monica Bellucci. The unlikely family is trailed by the intelligent and ruthless Karl Hertz (Paul Giamatti) and his army of thugs. A myriad of elaborate gunfights ensue, between which Smith pieces together the real story: a United States Senator who strongly supports gun control had been breeding babies for their bone marrow to treat his cancer, and a prominent gun baron has contracted Hertz to kill the babies. After Smith kills the senator he is captured by Karl who tries to get him to tell where the woman and child are. He soon manages to escape and kill Karl and returns to the baby and Donna. The film ends with him taking out an unfortunate band of robbers who attempt to rob the dairy queen they are at.

Cast

*Clive Owen as Smith
*Paul Giamatti as Karl Hertz
*Monica Bellucci as Donna Quintano
*Stephen McHattie as Hammerson
*Greg Bryk as Lone Man
*Daniel Pilon as Senator Rutledge
*Sidney Mende-Gibson as Baby Oliver
*Lucas Mende-Gibson as Baby Oliver
*Kaylyn Yellowlees as Baby Oliver
*Ramona Pringle as Baby's Mother
*Julian Richings as Hertz's Driver
*Tony Munch as Man Who Rides Shotgun

Production

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. [ [http://www.worstpreviews.com/review.php?id=559&section=preview Shoot 'Em Up at WorstPreviews ] ] After signing Clive Owen and other actors, the film went into production in Toronto, Canada between February 13,2006 and May 8,2006. Though "Variety" initially reported a planned release during the holiday season of 2006, [cite web|publisher=Variety.com|author=Ben Fritz|title=Owen Targets "Shoot"|date=2005-06-05|accessdate=2007-08-22|url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117924381.html?categoryid=1236&cs=1&query=Shoot+Em+Up] and initial previews occurred in September of that year, [cite web|publisher=Aintitcoolnews.com
author="Quint"|title=Crazy Clive Owen/Paul Giamatti flick, SHOOT 'EM UP, tests! And...|date=2006-09-14|accessdate=2007-08-22|url=http://www.aintitcool.com/node/30048] the film was eventually scheduled for release on September 7, 2007. Audience response from a screening at 2007's San Diego Comic-Con was great, however. [cite web|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes|author=Henry Ham|title=Shoot 'Em Up Brings Down the House at Comic-Con|date=2007-07-27|accessdate=2007-08-22|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/comic_con_2007/news/1656489/] Multilingual co-star Monica Bellucci dubbed her own voice for the French and Italian releases of the film. [ [http://www.craveonline.com/filmtv/articles/04648572/2/monica_belluccis_balancing_act.html Monica Bellucci's Balancing Act] ]

"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 "" 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 by London based agency [http://www.newmediamaze.com/ New Media Maze] (designer Adam C Bright, strategist Chris G D Edwards). The campaign included a viral video and website [ [http://bulletproofbaby.net bulletproofbaby.net] ] 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 a submachinegun while a baby was in it. [ [http://www.bounty.com/Mother-tests-out-her-bullet-proof-design.news/18255945 Bounty.com] "Mother tests out her 'bullet-proof' design"] The baby was then taken out of the stroller unharmed. It was all a prank, [ [http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22296042-5012895,00.html The Daily Telegraph Australia] "Bulletproof babywear, a viral marketing gag"] [ [http://www.raisingkids.co.uk/todaysnews07/news_230807_01.asp Raising Kids] "Bullet-proof Baby Buggies"] but the campaign was nevertheless taken seriously by global media and the blogging community. [ [http://www.dollymix.tv/2007/08/mums_gone_mad_are_you_protecti.html DollyMix.com] "Mums gone mad"] For instance, Sweden's biggest evening tabloid Aftonbladet had the story as its lead on their online edition for some time. [ [http://aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article633782.ab Aftonbladet] sv icon "Här skjuter hon - på sin baby"]

In August 2007, national television commercials featuring the song "House of Wolves" by My Chemical Romance began airing.

Reception

Film critics' views on the film were sharply divided. "Variety" called the movie "violent and vile in equal measure," and "too stylistically audacious to dismiss outright." [cite web|publisher=Variety|author=Peter Debruge|title=Shoot 'Em Up|date=2007-07-31
accessdate=2007-08-21|url=http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117934302.html?categoryid=31&cs=1] "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 good and undeniably fun...." [cite web|publisher=The Hollywood Reporter|author=Frank Scheck|title=Shoot 'Em Up|date=2007-08-20|accessdate=2007-08-22|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film/reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=9658] 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...." [cite web|publisher=Rolling Stone|author=Peter Travers|title=Shoot 'Em Up|date=2007-09-04|accessdate=2007-09-06|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/12922519/review/16255571/shoot_em_up] 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," [cite web|publisher=The Chicago Tribune|author=Michael Phillips|title=Shoot 'Em Up Misfires With A Hollow Point|date=2007-09-07|accessdate=2007-09-07|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/chi-070907shootem-story,1,7903774.story?ctrack=1&cset=true] and A.O. Scott of the "New York Times" went even further, calling the film "a worthless piece of garbage." [cite web|publisher=The New York Times|author=A.O. Scott|title=Never Mind Those Bullets, a Newborn Needs Rescuing|date=2007-09-07|accessdate=2007-09-07|url=http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/09/07/movies/07shoo.html?ref=movies]

As of July 13, 2008, the movie-review aggregating website RottenTomatoes.com lists "Shoot 'Em Up" with a "Tomatometer" rating of 66% ("fresh") based on 155 reviews, with an average critic's rating of 6.3/10. The "Cream of the Crop" on that site gives the film a 59% ("rotten") rating based on 29 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. [cite web|publisher=RottenTomatoes.com|title=Shoot 'Em Up|date=2007-09-08|accessdate=2007-09-08|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/shoot_em_up/] To date, Shoot 'Em Up has received a 7.0 out of 10 on the Internet Movie Database.

The film opened in the fourth place position for its first weekend, earning $5,450,000 from 2,108 theaters. [cite web|publisher=Box Office Mojo|title=Shoot 'Em Up (2007)|accessdate=2007-09-10|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=shootemup.htm]

International release

In Australia it was planned for a wide theatrical release on October 18 2007, but because of the poor Box Office results in USA, "Shoot 'Em Up" was released theatrically in only one cinema - Village Cinemas, Sunshine in Melbourne, on December 13 2007. It got a DVD release 3 weeks later on 4 January 2008.

Blu-Ray & DVD release

The movie was released on high-definition Blu-Ray Disc and DVD formats on New Year's Day, January 1, 2008. [cite web|publisher=IGN|title=Shoot 'Em Up Caps Blu-ray|accessdate=2007-10-25|url=http://dvd.ign.com/articles/830/830216p1.html] The HD DVD version of the movie was scheduled to be released shortly after the Blu-ray version, but Warner Bros./New Line's decision to exclusively support Blu-ray has led to the cancellation of all New Line HD DVD titles (along with all Warner Bros. HD DVD titles after May 2008). The Blu-Ray version of "Shoot 'Em Up" was delayed one week in Canada.Fact|date=May 2008

Notes

External links

* [http://www.shootemupmovie.com Official website]
*imdb title|id=0465602|title=Shoot 'Em Up
*metacritic film|id=shootemup|title=Shoot 'Em Up
*amg movie|id=1:329115|title=Shoot 'Em Up