Interview: Michael Davis

It’s being referred to as the B-movie with A-listers. New Line Cinema's feature, Shoot 'Em Up, begins with a baby being delivered amidst a bloody shoot-out in a warehouse and doesn’t let up before dozens more are tortured and killed, a visit is paid to a lactating prostitute and a carrot is shoved through the back of a man’s skull. It’s the kind of well-choreographed, blood-splattered action that usually finds a home as a direct-to-video release or at festivals dedicated to the genre. Only this time, thanks to a cast that includes Clive Owen (Children of Men), Paul Giamatti (Sideways) and Monica Bellucci (Irréversible), Shoot ‘Em Up will be blasting into North-American theaters shortly. I had the pleasure of  catching its Canadian premiere at the 31st edition of the Montreal World Film Festival.

Shoot ‘Em Up also marks the Hollywood arrival of writer/director, Michael Davis. Prior to making his latest, Davis had already directed five features and written over 35 screenplays. He had done storyboard work for major action productions and come close to directing with the big boys beforehand but something always fell through. Now, at the age of 46, Davis is enjoying the fruits of a labor that has been years in the making and he owes it all to the child inside. To get New Line onboard, Davis presented them with fifteen minutes of hand-drawn, stick-figure animation that outlined some of the key scenes to the film.  Not only did it convince New Line that Davis had enough experience to helm the project himself but it also ended up serving as a template for many of the final storyboards. 

The world in which the characters of Shoot ‘Em Up exist is not meant to be taken literally. How can it be when a baby is tucked under an arm most of the way through as if it were a football or a newspaper? Leaving realism at the door only opens new doors that lead to a vivid imagination exploding on the screen. The tone is often cheeky; the quips are often witty; and the scenarios are often ridiculous but always exciting.  The energy that runs throughout the film, incites the same stirring in the viewer.  It is both contagious and welcome and the whole reason it’s there to begin with is because you can tell that everyone on screen is just having a lot of fun.

Following the midnight premiere, I sat down (early Sunday morning) for a coffee filled chit chat with Davis.

Joseph Belanger: Last night, before the screening, you mentioned the “James Bond” influence on the Shoot ‘Em Up script.  You could see it in the Clive Owen character as he was able to get out of any situation.  What other elements came from that inspiration?
Michael Davis: I’d have to just say that that was just the origin of my interest in action movies.  I’ve explained to people that my theory of action comes from Goldfinger.  There’s a great scene at the end at Fort Knox, where Odd Job, the guy with the hat, throws his hat at Bond.  Bond gets the hat and you think he’s on top now.  He misses though and the hat gets embedded in these bars and it looks like Odd Job is going to go and get the death blow.  Bond sees these electrical cables and ends up jumping or the cables and then sticks them into the bars and everything gets electrocuted.  I like the hero using the environment but then he has to do something cinematic and acrobatic, not just do it but he has to almost literally fly.  That, as a kid, was my genesis of how an action scene should be.  Even if it’s larger than life.

JB: It’s the movies.  Your previous works were not Hollywood-produced.  This production obviously has a bigger budget and known talent.  I was wondering how this movie came to be.
MD: I started by animating out with hand drawn animation fifteen minutes of the movie, shot for shot.  It was literally how I saw all the action scenes.  New Line had seen the script; they loved it. We thought they might take a shot and let me direct but it was the animation was what really wowed them.  They thought, “This guy really knows what he’s doing.  Not only is it cool on the page but look at this.”  Of the thirty-five scripts I had written, one of them was Shoot ‘Em Up. I never thought anyone would let me make but I hopped on my computer; I wanted to see if I could animate just using my computer tools.  Ultimately, my hobby project scratched my itch to do the action and all of a sudden, well over six months, I had fifteen minutes of the movie.  I never even thought, “Hey, this is going to be my way in.”  I feel like it helps that it came out of a joy for creation. 

JB: And New Line never had any issue with the amount of outrageous violence in the movie.  This is not your usual watered down violence that comes out of Hollywood.
MD: If you look at a lot of American action movies, a lot of glass explodes or paper is flying everywhere because you need an action of shooting and then you need a reaction.  I don’t like to see things just blow up; I like to see the hero actually hit his target.  It’s very satisfying.  It was always part of the texture of the movie and New Line never ever had me pull back.  There’s also a dark humour that elevates it above the genre.

JB: That’s one of the things I enjoyed the most was the film’s wit.
MD: I actually think that in some ways, it’s easier to do the action.  The action in these movies is always satisfying.  The hard part is the stuff in between.  You also need these character bits that, if you didn’t have the action, there are still very interesting scenes in just a normal character movie.

JB: I’d like to ask you about the actors in this film, starting with Paul Giamatti.  I’ve never seen him in anything like this before.
MD: The name, Paul Giamatti, was suggested and I thought about it for a day and then I found I had my heart set on it.  But I thought we would never really get him and I would be disappointed.  I thought it was really interesting to go against type.  Paul, when I met him, I said, “You’re such a great actor.  Instead of just following what’s on the page, hopefully maybe you can create something.”  He replied, “Everybody thinks I’m this schleppy, nebbishy guy but I was on the swimteam!”  He also said that in his younger years, in the earlier part of his career before he lost his hair, he actually played a lot of villains.  I felt like after playing all these low esteem characters, his exuberance comes from all this pent up energy of wanting to do a villain again.

JB: Meanwhile, Clive Owen, this isn’t such a stretch for him.  It’s really part Children of Men, part The Bourne Identity, part Sin City. Was there anything that he brought to the picture that surprised you?
MD: The thing that I actually thought was great was that Clive actually protected the script even more than I did.  I always had this theory that whatever we did, we had to service the action.  There was a scene in a bus where he puts his sock on the kid’s head to warm it.  That was in an early draft.  I was thinking though it was gonna take a half day to shoot on the bus and I could really use that half day to make the action better; I don’t want to take away from the action.  So when a later draft came in and I had cut it, Clive said he really missed that scene.  He felt the scene was very important and very telling and there’s no dialogue.  So I put it back in and you can see the audience reaction.  They like it; it humanizes him.  So I feel he has great perspective.  He’s a great storyteller.

JB: In terms of story, I’m always looking for something deeper, even in action film like Shoot ‘Em Up.  It’s clear from talking to you today that this is important to you too.  What do you feel the film is saying about family and untraditional forms of family?
MD: Before this film happened, I was getting very angry because I’m this talented guy, I’m hard working and nothing had happened in my career.  I’d seen people I’d gone to film school with just step out and the riches and success came to them.  So I became this angry guy and the angry character in the movie is based on me.  Then somebody once said to me that children bring prosperity.  And I ended up having three kids; my last set were twins.  I like the idea that families can help you heal.  I didn’t start with that theme; you start with an idea that intrigues you.  When Clive’s character meets Monica Bellucci, they become a family; you can’t avoid it.  I like the idea that this guy heals himself amidst all this violence. 

JB: In the era of the opening weekend, this being your first crack, I was wondering how anxious you were for the film to hit.
MD: I am anxious because it’s sorta like your rating as a filmmaker.  It affects the choices I’m going to make.  If I’m writing something new that is somewhat in the Shoot ‘Em Up vein and the movie does well, then I might get to hopefully continue on as a writer/director.  I know it’s playing on a lot of screens.  I’m stoked about it so we’ll see what happens.

Part of the Montreal World Film Festival's Midnight Slam section, New Line Cinema will release Michael Davis' Shoot 'Em Up in theaters wide on September 7th.