If John Woo's 'Hard Boiled' is a Bullet Ballet...

...then Micheal Davis's Shoot 'em Up is Bullet Breakdancing!

Clive Owen is minding his own when he sees a pregnant woman being chased by a gunman and decides to help out with the aid his trusty carrot. With the exception of a few pauses for plot-movement, Owen - with a little help from Monica Bellucci - spends the next 86 minutes killing people in increasingly imaginative ways while stopping a maniacal Paul Giamatti from killing the newborn kiddie.

The plot is surplus to requirements. Unlike many action directors of recent years, however, Davis is perfectly aware of this. The action is halted once too often in order to move the vapid plot along, but when it gets going again, it demonstrates a level of imagination that would even have the great Woo himself saying, "Why didn't I think of that?!"

Yes, the action lacks Woo's grace and the disbelief must be suspended from a great height, but by the time the gun-fighting takes to the air, you've ceased caring.

The script is occasionally gut-wrenching - particularly during Bellucci's weepy moments (she was wasted here) - but if all you want is to be thoroughly entertained, this is the type of film that will make your face ache from grinning.