Umm.. what satire? Aside from a couple of scenes the movie couldn't decide if it was trying to parody or not.
Shoot 'Em Up defiintely had a combo of both, using action-movie cliches (to try to use it) to its advantage and at other times punching the cliche right in its face.
[spoiler]
Butchering Of Action Movies:
--Cliche of "Woman Being Victims" in action movies is poked fun of by the pregnant girl shooting the gangster early on in the first few minutes of the flick.
--Ridiculous action sequences and high body count = something made fun of throughout the entire flick. -->I.e. character played by Paul Giamatti talks about this in the scene in which he asks for numerous people to help him, in the long staircase scene and this huge scene of one many against loads of enemies occurs; i.e. the high-body count like that in the "Crazy 88" scene in Kill Bill Vol 1 .
-->I.e. action sequences w/ him holding a baby in the middle of a complete shootout and participating in the shootout
-->I.e. Smith sets up ridiculous amount of complex traps at the weapons warehouse in a matter of no time, not too long afterh e finds out at the place.
--World has been desensitized by violence throughout mediums (books, movies, video games, music, TV, etc etc; it'd be movies, in this case). See, the baby is basically only happy when violence is happening on-screen.
--Also, some lines from either Giamatti and Owen speak in general about "good guys and bad guys," referring to how they are often portrayed namely in action films.
--Male lead and female lead character often have sex in these action movies. Only, this movie takes it to a new extreme by having a shootout happen with it at the same time. A jab thrown at movies that are known for being "sex and violence" action movies.
In-Joke:
--Clive Owen plays Smith, who happens to be an ex-agent/military man...Agent Smith reference from The Matrix, anyone?[/spoiler]
