Shoot on Sight (2007)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Jag Mundhra

Writers:

Pervaiz Alam (script consultant and additional dialogue)
Carl Austin (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 August 2008 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Is it a crime to be a Muslim?

Plot:

A suspense drama dealing with the current terrorism attacks in UK through a London Metropolitan Police Officer of Muslim heritage who must display courage and persevere in his duties in face of family conflict.

Plot Keywords:

Scotland Yard | London | Police | Bombing | Suicide Bomber

Cast

Naseeruddin Shah	...	Police Commander Tariq Ali
Greta Scacchi	...	Susan Ali
Alex McSweeney	...	PC Brian Andrews
Gulshan Grover	...	Yunus
Om Puri	...	Junaid
Stephen Greif	...	Commander John Shepherd
Laila Rouass	...	Ruby Kaur
Chris Wilson	...	Police CO19 Officer
Mikaal Zulfikar	...	Zaheer Khan
Jayson Whiteley	...	Police Officer
India Wadsworth	...	Zara Ali
Arrun Harker	...	Imran Ali
Cloudia Swann	...	PC Justine Miller
Clemency Burton-Hill	...	Pamala Davies
Sadie Frost	...	Fiona Monroe

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence and language.

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English | Hindi

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo (soundtrack lost)

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Charing Cross Underground Station, Charing Cross, London, England, UK

Company:

Aron Govil Productions

Solid drama with good points

I just came from the cinema from watching "Shoot on Sight".

I have to say that the tag line cached my attention since I first saw it, being interested in the movie itself, and what was it about. Being a Criminology student, it's not hard to find interesting how people react to racism, and how people sometimes overreact to it. Some good points are made on that respect (when Ali learns about the wife of the "racist" cop, for example).

Now, getting into the movie itself, it looks like a TV-drama. It's not a judgement, it's just an opinion that doesn't either make it good or bad. Some of the plot related elements look a bit forced, in order to make the characters more "popular" amongst the public, I guess. The pace is steady, and the movie doesn't refrain from giving some "shock moments", which I particularly love. This makes the whole thing a bit real. However, don't expect great shoot-outs, people jumping on the air whilst firing two guns, or people shooting to the air and shouting "AAAAH" (see Hot Fuzz). It has action, understand me, but in a more steady way.

However, the important thing about the movie (and basically what I went to see it for) is the plot, and what it deals with. Islamic terrorism is something quite present on British society, and even more present in London, and even talking about it might be seen by some as racism. As one of the characters say, not all Muslims are Islamic terrorists, but all the Islamic terrorists are Muslim. Again, not being racist, just realistic. The film manages to stay in a neutral position, and not failing in a pro-Islams/anti-Islams position (which I feared, to be honest). It is neither a terrorist manifesto, nor an auto-criminalisation of all Muslims. Stays well balanced in very unstable grounds.

I gave it a 8/10. Worth watching.