Shoot 'Em Up (film)

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Movie
German title Shoot 'em up
Original title Shoot 'em up
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2007
length 86 minutes
Age rating FSK 18
JMK 16
Rod
Director Michael Davis
script Michael Davis
production Rick Benattar ,
Susan Montford ,
Don Murphy
music Paul Haslinger
camera Peter Pau
cut Peter Amundson
occupation

Shoot 'Em Up is an American action film from the year 2007 . Directed by Michael Davis , who also wrote the script. The English film title literally means "shoot them up" based on the computer game genre Shoot 'em up .

action

The mysterious Smith witnesses a heavily pregnant woman being followed by killers at a bus stop. He comes to her aid, albeit somewhat reluctantly, and turns out to be a true marksman. In the hail of bullets, the woman succeeds in giving birth to a boy. But before Smith can ask the mother about her identity, she is killed by a headshot and Smith has to leave her behind. He takes the baby and soon finds out that a number of brutal gangsters, led by the cocky Hertz , are after the baby. To ensure that the child is looked after, Smith turns to the prostitute Donna, who was recently stillborn and can therefore breastfeed. They name the baby Oliver.

Smith, Donna and the baby are repeatedly attacked by Hertz's killers, but thanks to Smith's ingenious shooting skills, they can always escape. After initial arguments, Smith and Donna get closer and gradually uncover the dangerous secret of the baby. Oliver and his mother were part of a prospective bone marrow donor breeding program for the terminally ill Senator Rutledge, who is running for president. The attack by Hertz and his men on mothers and children was ordered by the gun manufacturer Hammerson, who is a thorn in Rutedge's plans for drastically tightened gun laws . Smith, however, is a gifted marksman and weapons expert; he used to be a member of a special unit and owner of a gun shop. His wife and child were killed by a gunman to whom Smith had sold the weapons himself, not knowing what he would do with them.

A wild chase ensues in which Smith pretends to have the baby with him. In reality, it's with Donna on the run. In his distress to find the last living baby, the Senator makes a pact with Hertz and Hammerson and lures Smith onto his plane and so into the trap. When Smith realizes he has been tricked, he kidnaps the Senator and is able to convince him that his only way to get out of it with dignity is to die. His death would enforce his proposals for stricter gun laws in politics. Rutledge agrees and is promptly shot by Smith. Smith then parachutes out of the plane and kills some of the attackers in free fall. He himself is shot. He hides on the floor in an old warehouse, where he falls asleep from exhaustion and is captured by Hertz, who then takes him to Hammerson.

Hertz tortures Smith to find out from him where the baby is. He gradually breaks his fingers on both hands. Shortly before he can use even more drastic methods, Smith manages to free himself and kill everyone in the room, including Hammerson. When he tries to escape, Hertz pursues him. Despite his injured hands, Smith is able to shoot him down with a trick: He holds four cartridges between his fingers in a fire, these explode as a result of the fire and seriously injured Hertz. Hertz pulls himself up again, both men face each other with drawn weapons - and Smith shoots Hertz.

Finally, with his hands bandaged and Hammerson's sheepdog, Smith leaves town to find Donna and the baby. In fact, he finds Donna in an ice cream parlor where she works. There is another attack by a couple of junkies. In the following shooting, Smith incapacitates them by pulling the trigger with a carrot because his hands are still bandaged.

background

The filming of the film took place in Toronto from February 13 to May 8, 2006 on 55 shooting days. The film celebrated its world premiere on July 26, 2007 at the Comic-Con International in San Diego . It was shown in US cinemas on September 7, 2007, and was shown in German cinemas from September 20, 2007. With an estimated budget of 39 million dollars , the film played at the US box office opening weekend with 5.7 million dollars, until 14 October 2007, the total rose to almost 12.8 million. In total, revenues of almost $ 24.1 million were posted worldwide. In German cinemas, the film had over 38,900 visitors.

The film contains several parallels and allusions to other films: Clive Owen was already seen in the 2006 film " Children of Men " in a role in which he has to bring a baby to a safe place. When Paul Giamatti as Hertz missed his target when a shot was fired at the playground, he uttered the curse: "Fuck the wall!" In the English original it says "fuck me sideways" - Giamatti was seen in 2004 in one of the leading roles in the film " Sideways ". The first weapon that Smith uses in the film is a Walther PPK , which is commonly used in James Bond films. When it with this weapon to a jamming occurs, it raises the standing under attack Smith with the words "What a cheap crap thing!" To the side. Clive Owen was originally traded as the successor to Pierce Brosnan in the role of James Bond in the movie James Bond 007: Casino Royale , but the role was eventually given to Daniel Craig . Michael Davis staged the two opponents Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti as human versions of the cartoon characters Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd , who have been fighting each other on TV for decades. In two places in the film, Smith is out and about in a BMW - probably a reference to the BMW short film series The Hire , in which Clive Owen played the leading role.

The baby, who can be seen in the role of Oliver, was intended for the role even before he was born. The producers were looking for a woman who was pregnant with male twins and who was expecting delivery at the time of filming. When casting the role of Mr. Smith with Clive Owen, the actor was, according to Michael Davis, the first choice.

Monica Bellucci dubbed her role for the Italian and French versions herself.

In preparation for this filming, Paul Giamatti gained his first experience with firearms by completing an apprenticeship with Clive Owen. Michael Davis wanted to do without explosions wherever possible in order to draw attention in the action scenes to the hail of bullets that the protagonists deliver. On the other side 15 found for the film gallons (about 56 liters) Film Blood use.

The scene in which Clive Owen can be seen skydiving was recorded on a green screen . To record this scene, Owen was clamped in a harness for nine hours on four days of shooting.

At the beginning of the film, Clive Owen in the role of Mr. Smith shoots the letters of a neon sign on a house roof , so that only the words "FUK U" remain and comments on this with the curse "fuck you, you fucking fuckers" in the original English he can be heard with the words "Fuck you, you fucking fucks". This line comes from the text of the music track "You Suck" by the band Strapping Young Lad . A music video of this band can be seen on television later in the film . Hertz then also shoots at the neon sign, so that the words "FUK U TOO" can be seen.

Some heavy metal action scenes , including Motörhead (Ace of Spades) and AC / DC (If You Want Blood (You've Got It)) , are accompanied by music .

Mr. Smith has a thing for carrots. He is often shown with a carrot between his teeth. But he also uses it as a weapon, uses it as a trigger aid when shooting or as a dummy hand grenade. In one scene you can see that he is even growing carrots in his shelter.

It is also noteworthy that the film is very much in the style of classic shoot 'em up computer games. In this way, the entire film can be broken down into individual scenes that are similar to the levels in computer games. They are introduced by short intros, whereupon larger groups of opponents storm the protagonist, none of which pose a great threat to him. Each group of opponents is accompanied by mini boss opponents and a brief encounter with Hertz as the final boss , who remains unreachable until the end of the film, but always represents the higher threat.

criticism

On Deutschlandradio Kultur, Hans-Ulrich Pönack spoke of a “wonderfully inappropriate irony masterpiece of taboo-breaking, fascinatingly ambiguous, very entertaining action cinemas”, which Quentin Tarantino surpasses and has what it takes to become a cult film.

Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times on September 7, 2007 that the film was the "most brazen", "most unbelievable" and "most hyperactive" action film he had seen since Sin City , which compared to this film was like a "chamber play “Work. The use of the word “action” must be followed by laughter. At the same time he stated: “I don't like films that overdo it, but I have secret respect for a film like this one that goes much, much further than just too far” and therefore gave Shoot 'Em Up 3.5 out of 4 possible stars.

Frank Scheck, however, wrote in The Hollywood Reporter on August 22, 2007 that the film features “exaggerated” staged shootings, one after the other. It disappoints anyone looking for sophistication, character development or a complex storyline. Action movie fans, however, would definitely like it.

The film-dienst judged: “An action film trimmed for coolness in a stylish noir atmosphere, whose emphatically ironic gesture of the rude shooting and violence orgy takes nothing of its inhuman pseudo-existentialism. The reference in the title to a computer shooting game is definitely indicative. "

Nominations and Awards

The film was nominated for “Best Picture” at the Satellite Awards 2007 and Clive Owen was nominated for “Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical”.

The German Film and Media Evaluation FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title valuable.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for Shoot 'Em Up . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , September 2007 (PDF; test number: 111 318 K).
  2. ↑ Age rating for Shoot 'Em Up . Youth Media Commission .
  3. ↑ Locations according to the Internet Movie Database
  4. ↑ a b c d e budget and box office results according to the Internet Movie Database
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m background information according to the Internet Movie Database
  6. ↑ a b c Start dates according to the Internet Movie Database
  7. ^ Film review , Deutschlandradio Kultur , Hans-Ulrich Pönack, September 19, 2007
  8. ^ Film review , Chicago Sun-Times , Roger Ebert , September 7, 2007
  9. ^ Film review ( September 1, 2007 memento in the Internet Archive ), The Hollywood Reporter , Frank Scheck, August 22, 2007
  10. ↑ film review , film service
  11. ↑ Nominations and awards according to the Internet Movie Database

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