Apparently this movie has been receiving conflicting reviews - peculiar because I think it's ruddy great! The entire film is very obviously tongue-in-cheek, yet semi-serious in content and violence. Massively over the top in pretty much every scene, the characters and actors cast as them were brilliant. Clive Owen was perfect, I really think he would make a superb James Bond. Paul Giamatti is my favourite actor/person so it goes without saying that he stole the show. As for Monica Belluci, I think she's a great actor and pardon me but she's god damn sexy as hell in my male, red-blooded opinion. I thought they all gelled in their roles and I enjoyed every minute of it. More like this please.

I opted to watch this movie because I just got through watching another Clive Owen movie: "Intruders". "Intruders" was the third Clive Owen movie I'd seen and I thought that all three of them were excellent so let me see what else he's done.One thing is for sure... this movie is not to be taken seriously, not in the least bit. This is pure action junkie stuff. No real plot, no substantive dialog, no character development, not even realistic action. I mean, who kills people with carrots? Because they made the movie overtly satirical and over-the-top it made it somewhat more enjoyable, but honestly I'm too old for this type of movie. This movie is probably ripe for the 18-25 male demographic. An orgy of sex, violence, a little heavy metal and terrible one-liners. "Shoot 'Em Up" was replete with poor bad guy aim, high bad guy body count, Mythbusters type stunts, spontaneous sex, appalling puns and a baby. Paul Giamatti offered some nice comic relief, Monica Bellucci some nice eye candy and Clive Owen some nice gun play. Those were the only redeeming qualities of this teenagers fantasy.

Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti, and Monica Belluci star in "Shoot 'Em Up," a 2007 film that I believe is a parody of the action genre. It has to be.Owen plays a former black ops who helps a woman deliver a baby and then finds himself on the run with the baby as hundreds of people chase him and shoot at him. I won't go into the whys and wherefores. I will only say that it is non-stop action, with Owen shooting in all kinds of situations - sliding on oil leaks under cars, having sex, sitting, standing, running, jumping, parachuting out of a plane -- he never stops. When he's not shooting he's punching, knifing, or slamming someone's head somewhere. Or eating a carrot.Monica Belluci is the hooker he asks to help care for the baby as the two of them run for their lives, the baby in tow wearing a bullet-proof vest.The body count is unbelievable.Exciting, fun, bloody, violent, and preposterous, you'll be on the edge of your seat rooting for him to make the world safe.Someone once told me that movies are made for 15-year-old boys in Taiwan. This kind of action film definitely is. You can sit back and watch car chases, thermal guns, nudity, you name it - you don't need to know a word of English. Clive Owen comes up against Paul Giamatti, and the two actors couldn't be more different. Owen is deadpan and deadly, Giamatti is a showman who can play an evil character like this or comedy with equal facility. I understand he recently played, of all things, Hamlet, and received wonderful reviews. I really hope Clive Owen plays James Bond. I think he'd be wonderful.

Shoot 'Em Up is good, silly over the top fun. Clive Owen makes for a good enough lead, Paul Giamatti is a great weirdo villain and Monica Bellucci, Julian Richings and Stephen McHattie round out a pretty solid supporting cast.The soundtrack is fantastic (Motorhead, Iggy Pop and Devin Townsend!!) and the action is appropriately over the top. It does have some pretty wonky pacing (for a movie that's only 86 minutes, it feels pretty long) which hinders its re-watch value for me, but it's not a big enough flaw for me to think any less of the film.Overall, Shoot 'Em Up is a pretty hard film to hate. It's just filled with too much raw energy to not be entertained for its entire runtime.