Shoot 'Em Up
New Line Cinema | Release Date: September 7, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
49
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
9
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The most audacious, implausible, cheerfully offensive, hyperactive action picture I've seen since, oh, "Sin City," which in comparison was a chamber drama. Read full review
88
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
This is likely the fastest-moving intentionally funny action movie ever made. It's as if the 21 Bond movies and four "Die Hards" had been distilled to remove their body fat (that is, character development, buildup, rest stops, etc.) and left us with only the killing and the punch lines. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Its pulpy violent excess will tip over...into slightly more excessive excess. That's its silly, scuzzball joy. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
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. Read full review
80
Village VoiceChuck Wilson
Extremely violent guilty pleasure of a thriller. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
This wet dream for action junkies leaves out logic and motivation --you know, all the boring stuff. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
The season's first guilty pleasure, Shoot 'Em Up is a joyously silly, R-rated, John Woo-in flected Looney Tune, with Clive Owen as a carrot-chomping, gun-toting Bugs Bunny matching wits with Elmer Fudd-ish assassin Paul Giamatti. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
It's funny without being toothless, adrenaline turbocharged without being mean and utterly deranged in the best sense of the word. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
For sheer audacity and adrenaline-fueled carnage, Shoot 'Em Up hits its target pretty much dead on. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKevin Crust
The presence of the two actors and the film's mordant sense of humor buoy the downtime between bloodbaths and genre fans may find enough to love here. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
It's all meant as gory good fun, but once the novelty wears off half an hour in, the rest of the film is only meant for people who absolutely agree with Giamatti's character about that violence thing. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
There's a little bit of "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" in Shoot 'Em Up, although this production isn't as smart or as slick. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Absolutely not for feminists, lovers of period films, and anyone whose sensibilities are bruised by over-the-top stuntwork, it's a cocktail made up of three parts testosterone to one part brains. Read full review
60
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Intermittently amusing. Read full review
58
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
The saving grace in an exuberantly graceless movie is Clive Owen. This actor is bulletproof. Even in a sick-joke jamboree like Shoot 'Em Up, he mows down the competition and gets his laughs without losing his composure. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerAndy Spletzer
The whole thing feels like watching somebody else play a video game. Director Michael Davis obviously was more interested in crafting a series of gunfights than a coherent story arc. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Violent thrills and massive blood spills are the essence of the absurdly over-the-top action flick that is Shoot 'Em Up. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
One can certainly be amused and entertained by writer-director Michael Davis's hyperbolic action frolics--I was--but not without feeling pretty low and stupid. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen Cole
A furious 90-minute trailer of a movie that exceeds the speed limit for action films established by Quentin Tarantino's recent "Grindhouse." Read full review
50
PremiereKarl Rozemeyer
As a bonus, it contains, at least, the best death-by-carrot scene in the history of film. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Despite all the flying bullets, which are admittedly entertaining at times, Shoot 'Em Up doesn't offer enough bang for your bucks. Read full review
40
VarietyPeter Debruge
Good taste is the first fatality in this gonzo thrill-seeker, sure to offend mainstream dispositions, yet too stylistically audacious to dismiss outright. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
For the most part, this is strictly kiss kiss, bang bang, yawn yawn. Read full review
25
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
It sets a tone, all right. A lot of gamers (sorry, "filmgoers") may well enjoy writer-director Michael Davis' ultraviolent lark. It's not meant to be taken seriously. But films like this are worth taking seriously because they're genuinely cruddy and hollow and, yes, vile. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Shoot 'Em Up is not only the title of Hollywood's latest descent into nonsensical mayhem but pretty much sums up the entire inane plot as well. Read full review
20
Washington PostStephen Hunter
It's just gunfights strung together, without a whisper of coherence or meaning. The fights are staged so that they all look the same, and the principle is always the same: The gunman's multiple antagonists never hit, and he never misses. John Woo at least had fun with this sort of thing 20 years ago. And Giamatti? What the heck is he doing here? Read full review
20
SalonStephanie Zacharek
The picture is just a catalog of strained camera moves and preprogrammed gags, with no wit or style. Read full review
0
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
A worthless piece of garbage. Read full review
0
SlateDana Stevens
Owen, Giamatti, and Bellucci--all fine actors at the peak of hireability--must have been coming off a collective coke bender when they agreed to be in this murky, straight-to-video-looking piece of crud. Read full review
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