Free Fire (2016)

• Year: 2016
• Released: 21 Apr 2017
• Country: United Kingdom
• Adwords: 3 wins & 9 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4158096/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/free_fire
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/free-fire
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: R
• Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime
• Runtime: 91 min
• Writer: Amy Jump, Ben Wheatley
• Director: Ben Wheatley
• Cast: Sharlto Copley, Brie Larson, Armie Hammer
• Keywords: 1970s, shootout, gang, sniper, boston, massachusetts,

	6.3/10
	63/100
	70% – Critics
	52% – Audience

Free Fire Storyline

Stevo (Sam Riley) and Bernie (Enzo Cilenti) are driving to meet two IRA members, Chris (Cillian Murphy) and Frank (Michael Smiley). On the way, Stevo tells Bernie that he was beaten up the previous day by the cousin of a woman he abused. The group meet outside a Boston warehouse, where they wait with intermediary Justine (Brie Larson). A representative arrives, Ord (Armie Hammer), who leads them inside. The group is there to buy guns from arms dealer Vernon (Sharlto Copley) and his associates, Martin (Babou Ceesay), Harry (Jack Reynor), and Gordon (Noah Taylor). Despite tensions between the two groups and the fact that Vernon supplied the wrong weapons, Chris’ group secures the weapons in a van and hands over the money in a briefcase.

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Free Fire Movie Reviews

Looks good, but lacks basic filmmaking qualities

FREE FIRE is another disappointing effort from British director Ben Wheatley, following on from HIGH RISE. This is his version of RESERVOIR DOGS, with a bunch of rival characters holding up in a ruined warehouse when an arms deal turns sour and vendettas turn deadly. Wheatley’s films always look good and you can’t fault the photography, but the problem – as ever – lies in his wife Amy Jump’s script. It fails to develop characters properly, and as such there’s no kind of suspense or realism here at all.

What you get are characters indulging in an improbably long shoot-out which takes up almost all of the running time. When you see that Brie Larson is randomly present in the story you can guess the oh-so-obvious twist ending from the outset. There’s a lot of violence but very little death for the most part, with everyone being shot multiple times but failing to die, somehow. The last half an hour is better but still only average. The best thing about the film are some well-judged and funny performances from old reliables like Armie Hammer, Sharlto Copley, Michael Smiley, and Cillian Murphy.

shoot them up

Various people arrive in a deserted warehouse to do an illegal gun deal. Shots are fired. This is essentially an extended shoot them up action play in a single room. The problem starts with a lack character exposition. This is important because it’s hard to tell who is on which side. Once the shooting starts, it’s hard to tell the geography or the teams. It’s a lot of shots in the legs. It would be compelling if I cared about any of the characters. It may be more compelling to do this rooting for one side. I don’t even care if either side wins, loses, or dies. That’s a hard way to watch a shoot them up.

It is okay for what it is really

“Free Fire” is a French/British co-production in the English language from 2016, so still a very new movie. The director is Ben Wheatley and he also wrote the script with his longtime collaborator (and spouse) Amy Jump. At roughly 90 minutes, it is far from a long movie, but that’s perfectly fine. I also believe if it had run for 10 more minutes or even more, then my rating would not have been at 3 stars out of 5. The cast includes several names that film buffs have certainly heard before, such as Armie Hammer, Sharlto Copley, Sam Riley, Cilian Murphy and recent Oscar winner Brie Larson who plays the only female character in the entire movie, if we don’t count voice acting.

So yeah, this is the story of two groups of people who are willing to do an arms deal. One has the money, the other has the arms. But conflict and antipathies arise quickly and the whole thing escalates when one gang member recognizes the other who beat up his sister the night before. From that moment on, it is really just guns being fire constantly from start to finish. I did not care too much for that, but it’s not a negative deal-breaker either. The film lives through the witty dialogue and (non-shooting) interactions between the characters from start to finish. Especially Sharlto Copley once again confirms to me how amazing he is with the right material, a mix of drama and comedy in his case and he is easily the MVP in this film. The biggest problems I had with the movie were probably that for the first half and maybe a bit more it was unclear who belonged with who and who opposed who. Then again, int he film’s weaker moments it felt just like everybody was shooting at everybody.

Overall, I think I enjoyed the watch here. This is not a film to check out if you are really looking for something deep, but it’s pretty fun to watch at 1.5 hours I guess. Martin Scorsese agrees. I am not sure if I like the ending with who lives eventually, don’t think I do, but the final shot of the film was still pretty nice. And having seen other stuff by Wheatley there is no denying that he made films in the past that I enjoyed less than this fun ride we have here. It is obviously not a film that will receive a great deal of awards recognition, even if it has some already, but this doesn’t mean it’s a bad movie. It’s just about the fun in here. Put in a dozen of heavily armed men with big guns and even bigger egos in a warehouse and wait what happens. You know the outcome. But this does not take away anything from the excitement. “Free Fire” is worth checking out. Go see it. Final praise here for the song used on several occasions and the contrast between that and the violence resulted in some of the most memorable moments.