12/20/07

Bob's Big Screen:

Fun but forgettable sequel and clever shoot-em-up out on DVD

by Bob Connally

Action movies tend to focus on the action and little else. The first DVD is full of empty calories: fun while you’re enjoying it but little left behind for long-term satisfaction.

The second movie is less well-known but much stronger in character and content.

Rush Hour 3 (available 12/26):

1998’s “Rush Hour” was a genuinely fun buddy action comedy which brought together the unlikely pair of Chinese megastar Jackie Chan and rising American star Chris Tucker. After its astronomical box-office success Tucker decided it was time to go into semi-retirement (he hasn’t starred in a non-“Rush Hour” film since) and Chan never really had another American hit, aside from “Rush Hour 2.”

Like "Rush Hour 2," this third offering in the series seems sort of enjoyable while you’re watching it but deep down you know it’s nothing special because the previous scene has already disappeared from your memory (I felt a bit like Dory in “Finding Nemo” while I was watching this).

Chris Tucker has some very funny moments and director Brett Ratner (who also helmed the first two films) puts together a great car chase through Paris. Ratner is no David Lean but he has his moments.

Chan seems to be relegated to second banana this time. There's not much else to say about this film. I had a decent time. Not a particularly bad movie, but certainly a disposable one. And for some reason I spent the whole movie thinking that Max von Sydow was Christopher Plummer. Sorry Max. 5/10.

Shoot ‘Em Up (available 1/1):

I grew up on Looney Toons. Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam, Elmer Fudd, and most especially Daffy Duck. My brother and I would sit and watch them for hours on end and he's still the one person to whom I can say "Well now I wouldn't say that..." and get the proper reaction.

Maybe that's why I loved "Shoot 'Em Up" so much. It reminded me of those old cartoons and afternoons with Mike.
"Shoot 'Em Up" really is, for all intents and purposes, a live-action, bullet-ridden Bugs Bunny cartoon, right down to the way that Mr. Smith (Clive Owen) chews on a carrot in the opening shot. He does a lot of carrot chewing over the film's brief running time. He also does a lot of killing.
The film opens with Owen sitting on a bench, eating his carrot in peace, when a woman in labor bolts down the street, trying to outrun a man with a gun. Rolling his eyes, Smith takes care of business, and when one gunman becomes twenty he really takes care of business. This opening action sequence sets the tone for what is to come.

After giving birth, the mother is killed and Smith is left to look after the baby. With Mr. Hertz (a wonderfully evil Paul Giamatti) and his enormous gang of thugs coming after him, Smith takes the child to the one woman he knows, Donna Quintano (Monica Bellucci).

The rest of the film is one cartoon-like shootout and action spectacular after another, with Smith trying to keep Donna, baby, and himself alive.
The sequences imagined by writer-director Michael Davis are elaborate, inventive, and executed brilliantly. Like last year's "Crank," "Shoot 'Em Up" doesn't spend one moment taking itself seriously and relishes in over-the-top action. Unlike "Crank," this is a movie that has a point or two to make (along with a few choice rants from Smith that always seem to start with "You know what I hate?"), but it's really all about the gunplay.

I had an absolute blast watching this one. Twice.

If you love Looney Toons (which I still do), lots of guns, and AC/DC during a skydiving sequence (and who doesn't?) then you must see "Shoot 'Em Up."

"Besides," as Mr. Hertz puts it, "violence is one of the most fun things to watch." 9/10.

Also Coming to DVD

December 26

Eastern Promises: 7.5

The Brothers Solomon

The Kingdom: 7.5

January 1

The Tudors: Season 1