Rotten Tomatoes Logo Do you want to see ‘Shoot 'Em Up’?
Shoot 'Em Up

Shoot 'Em Up (2007)

tomatometer

66

Average Rating: 6.1/10
Reviews Counted: 159
Fresh: 105 | Rotten: 54

As preposterous and over-the-top as Shoot 'Em Up may be, its humor and non-stop action make for a very enjoyable film.

53

Average Rating: 5.5/10
Critic Reviews: 32
Fresh: 17 | Rotten: 15

As preposterous and over-the-top as Shoot 'Em Up may be, its humor and non-stop action make for a very enjoyable film.

audience

66

liked it
Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 301,931

My Rating

Movie Info

Clive Owen stars in this gritty, over the top action thriller as Mr. Smith, a gun-toting badass with a hair trigger and an unknown past. He's far from a doctor and farther from a parent, but when he unwittingly discovers an innocent woman delivering a baby right in the middle of a gunfight, Smith enters the fray to save her and though the woman expires, he is the one left in care of the orphaned child. He thinks that the killers were after the woman, but soon he realizes that they had a far more

R, 1 hr. 27 min.

Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense

Michael Davis

Jan 1, 2008

$12.7M

New Line Cinema

Cast

All Critics (161) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (113) | Rotten (55) | DVD (17)

After about an hour, though, it all becomes a mind-numbing barrage.

January 3, 2008 Full Review Source: Associated Press | Comments (3)
Associated Press
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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.

January 3, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

...an affectionate, often very funny Simpsons parody of its whole eponymous genre. It's a live-action McBane as co-directed by Quentin Tarantino and Chuck Jones.... Shoot 'Em Up is Hot Fuzz gone to the Dark Side.

January 2, 2008 Full Review Source: Film.com | Comment
Film.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's just gunfights strung together, without a whisper of coherence or meaning.

November 3, 2007 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comments (3)
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The most audacious, implausible, cheerfully offensive, hyperactive action picture I've seen since, oh, Sin City, which in comparison was a chamber drama.

September 15, 2007 Full Review Source: Denver Post | Comment
Denver Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A big bloody disappointment.

September 10, 2007 Comments (2)
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Over-the-top action with guns, guns, and ... guns.

July 10, 2008 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

Say what you will about Bugs Bunny, at least he never needed a backstory.

May 1, 2008 Full Review Source: MSNBC | Comment

...it's certainly impossible to deny the effectiveness of the three central performances.

March 25, 2008 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | Comment
Reel Film Reviews

Clive Owen is ideally cast as the likeable loner (with a tragedy in his past, of course) whose self defence and killing efficiency is declared with deadpan delivery.

March 23, 2008 Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | Comment
Urban Cinefile

...painfully uncool one-liners, a flat performance from Clive Owen, a disgusting job by Paul Giamatti and a plot that reveals itself to be idiotic.

March 3, 2008 Full Review Source: The Scorecard Review | Comments (3)
The Scorecard Review

Shoot 'em Up dispenses with plot, character development and coherency, but it's a blast all the same.

February 4, 2008 Full Review Source: Washington Times | Comment

For pure gonzo gunplay and action movie overkill, this gloriously absurd spectacle is the most fun I've had in ages.

January 10, 2008 Full Review Source: MSN.com | Comment
MSN.com

...a little shooting and chasing goes a long way. When it's extended to an hour and a half, it becomes overkill, if you'll pardon the expression.

January 9, 2008 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis

...essentially just one long chase sequence that becomes much too monotonous much too soon.

January 9, 2008 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment (1)
Movie Metropolis

a sometimes hilarious, sometimes eye-goggling reductio ad absurdum of the action flick to its barest kinetic essentials - like one of those porn compilations of money shots, only in a different genre.

January 9, 2008 Full Review Source: Eye for Film | Comment
Eye for Film

A tongue-in-cheek spoof of the action adventure genre, a stomach-churning free-fall featuring plenty of gratuitous bloodletting with a little primal carnality tossed in for good measure.

January 4, 2008 Full Review Source: Mount Desert Islander | Comment
Mount Desert Islander
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Shoot 'Em Up

This is such a great movie. Balls to the walls action. Did i mention Moncia Belluci?? Oh yeah

March 2, 2008
jmanard52

Super Reviewer

In this over-the-top frenetic action romp, we've got an everyman named Smith (Owen) with a love for carrots who, after coming to the aid of a pregnant woman and helping her give birth (during a shootout no less) finds himself the target of a gang of thugs led by an off-kilter henpecked hitman named Hertz (Giamatti) who

September 4, 2007
cosmo313
Chris Weber

Super Reviewer

    1. Hertz: The leader that stays in the rear, takes it in the rear.
    – Submitted by Andrew K (11 days ago)
    1. Smith: Nothin' like a good hand job.
    – Submitted by Andrew K (11 days ago)
    1. Smith: [eats carrot] What's up dock?
    2. Hertz: Aww you're a wascally little wabbit.
    – Submitted by Andrew K (11 days ago)
    1. Smith: Fuck you you fucking fuckers!
    – Submitted by Andrew K (11 days ago)
    1. Smith: Eat your vegetables.
    – Submitted by Kristopher M (6 months ago)

Movies Like Shoot 'Em Up

Latest News for Shoot 'Em Up

September 8, 2008:
Shoot 'Em Up, Bollywood Style
American audiences may have slept on "Shoot 'Em Up," but its charms were apparently not lost on the...

September 16, 2007:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Jodie Struggles But Still Hits #1
For the second straight weekend, a star-driven action drama aimed at adult audiences opened at...

What's Hot On RT

RT on DVD & Blu-Ray
RT on DVD & Blu-Ray

Red Tails, This Means War

24 Frames
24 Frames

Pictures: Wes Anderson films

Amazing Spider-Man
Amazing Spider-Man

Video: Your friendly four minute preview

Anchorman 2
Anchorman 2

Trailer: The legend continues!

Top Movie Quizzes

LEGO Mania: 2011 Best Picture Nominees
by natalie - 21,981 taken
created 16 months ago
How Much Do You Know About Leonardo DiCaprio?
by natalie - 53,297 taken
created 19 months ago
Pixar Movies!
by jdikwlzviv - 32,389 taken
created 19 months ago
The Wizards of Harry Potter
by jdikwlzviv - 32,975 taken
created 18 months ago
Help | About | Jobs | Newsletter | Critics Submission | API | Licensing | Mobile