What happens when you start with the ultimate genre film as a base, you add Clive Owen as your hero and then sprinkle in some Paul Giamatti as your villian? You get something like Shoot Em’ Up:

I don’t know how I missed this, but I just heard about it, and I must admit, I’m stoked (people still say “stoked,” right?).

Slated to be released on September 7, Owen described it in a panel discussion as “John Woo’s wet dream,” and it looks as if director Michael Davis is attempting to give Tarantino a run for his money in the “over-the-top action movie” field. Over the last few years, Owen and Giamatti have become two of my favorite actors. This is in no small part to Owen’s work in Sin City, Inside Man and Children of Men; and Giamatti’s work in Sideways, American Splendor, Lady in the Water (he was great at least) and the Illusionist.

While I realize this kind of film is not everyone’s cup of tea, I’ve held an appreciation for a well-done action flick and its “assassin” sub-genre ever since I was old enough to see an R-rated film. I cut my teeth on Die Hard, Predator and the Road Warrior, and fed my addiction over the years with the likes of Grosse Pointe Blank, the Matrix, the Transporter, Kill Bill, etc. With the addition of these two actors, though, I expect this film will not only parody the genre a bit, but it will strive to rise above it as well.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 14th, 2007 at 3:42 pm and is filed under film, pop culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.