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Shoot 'Em Up and Resident Evil
Sometimes when I go to see a movie, I want narrative depth. I want profound characters and situation; symbolism a plenty and great characters who spout expertly written lines of dialogue.
Other times...I want to see shit blow up.
I saw Shoot 'Em Up last night, finally. And it was the most amazing action movie I have ever seen. Period. Its hyper-kenetic, looney toons meets death and destruction was a perfect mix. You never for one minute believe that anything that occurs in its 90 minutes could possibly happen, but you never for one moment care.
Shoot 'Em Up lives in the same universe as Crank, another film I enjoyed, but ups the ante with stylish cinematography, acting and amazingly choreographed fight sequences. There is a story here, but it's simply to create exhilerating sequences. A man named Smith sits at a bus stop, eating a carrot. He disinterestedly watches a very pregnant woman stumble down the street, obviously in fear. He then also disinterestedly watches a car careen into a parked car and a man get out, who is obviously stalking her. When the man pulls out a gun, Smith stands, mutters an epithet and goes after them. From then until the last bullet is fired, Shoot 'Em Up becomes a thrill ride filled with things I don't think I've ever seen in an action movie. Add in Paul Giamatti as the crazed evil guy and you have a recipe for success.
I absolutely loved every second of it.
Also saw Resident Evil: Extinction. Or, as I'd like to call it Resident Evil: Day of the dead birds as they travel on the road to the thunderdome.
I actually loved the first Resident Evil movie and think it one of-if not the-best video game adaptations (not that that's saying much...). Extinction was directed by Russell Mulcahy who also directed the first two Highlander movies. More importantly, it was written by Paul W.S. Anderson, who penned all three, and has had ups and downs. While Extinction is better than the second movie, it's not much better. The biggest problem is that Anderson completely stole ideas from much better movies.
You have the crazed scientist trying to domesticate zombies and create smarter zombies (Day of the Dead's Bub). You have a sequence straight from the birds, albeit a cool sequence. You have this post-apocalyptic world that looks to be the kissing cousin to Mad Max. All three much better movies than this one. It was entertaining, but as I was thinking moments before my brother said it, "we should have watched it before Shoot 'Em Up."
Other times...I want to see shit blow up.
I saw Shoot 'Em Up last night, finally. And it was the most amazing action movie I have ever seen. Period. Its hyper-kenetic, looney toons meets death and destruction was a perfect mix. You never for one minute believe that anything that occurs in its 90 minutes could possibly happen, but you never for one moment care.
Shoot 'Em Up lives in the same universe as Crank, another film I enjoyed, but ups the ante with stylish cinematography, acting and amazingly choreographed fight sequences. There is a story here, but it's simply to create exhilerating sequences. A man named Smith sits at a bus stop, eating a carrot. He disinterestedly watches a very pregnant woman stumble down the street, obviously in fear. He then also disinterestedly watches a car careen into a parked car and a man get out, who is obviously stalking her. When the man pulls out a gun, Smith stands, mutters an epithet and goes after them. From then until the last bullet is fired, Shoot 'Em Up becomes a thrill ride filled with things I don't think I've ever seen in an action movie. Add in Paul Giamatti as the crazed evil guy and you have a recipe for success.
I absolutely loved every second of it.
Also saw Resident Evil: Extinction. Or, as I'd like to call it Resident Evil: Day of the dead birds as they travel on the road to the thunderdome.
I actually loved the first Resident Evil movie and think it one of-if not the-best video game adaptations (not that that's saying much...). Extinction was directed by Russell Mulcahy who also directed the first two Highlander movies. More importantly, it was written by Paul W.S. Anderson, who penned all three, and has had ups and downs. While Extinction is better than the second movie, it's not much better. The biggest problem is that Anderson completely stole ideas from much better movies.
You have the crazed scientist trying to domesticate zombies and create smarter zombies (Day of the Dead's Bub). You have a sequence straight from the birds, albeit a cool sequence. You have this post-apocalyptic world that looks to be the kissing cousin to Mad Max. All three much better movies than this one. It was entertaining, but as I was thinking moments before my brother said it, "we should have watched it before Shoot 'Em Up."