DVD review: SHOOT 'EM UP

The greatest gunplay movie ever made, writer-director Michael Davis’s Shoot ’Em Up, was released last week on DVD. What a treat. I said nice things about the movie last September, when it pretty much tanked in theaters, but on second viewing, my opinion has actually risen to greater heights. What I thought was clever the first time around seems absolutely brilliant now. What I chuckled at in September now has me clutching my gut in laughter.

Now, don’t get me wrong. This is not a classic noir film. Nor is it a spoof of classic noir. But it takes your typical guns-blazing chase picture and shoves it over the top to a degree that’ll delight action fans. Davis oughta direct a film based on one of Duane Swierczynski’s fantastic crime novels. He’d do a perfect job.

Anyway, the DVD has some nice bonuses: an interesting full-length commentary from Michael Davis, an hour-long “making of” documentary, some deleted and extended scenes (with commentary), and the amazing “animatics” that Davis used to pitch the movie to producers and even to star Clive Owen to get it made. Oh, and Shoot ’Em Up also stars Paul Giamatti as last year’s greatest movie villain and the delicious Monica Belucci as the classiest lactating hooker ever. So what’s stopping you from buying or at least renting this thing?