Review of Free Fire (2017) by Patrick L — 15 Jun 2017

"It may contain one colossal gunfight but "Free Fire" is just dull and boring".

Movie Review: Free Fire.

Date Viewed: April 24 2017.

Directed By Ben Wheatley (Sightseers, Down Terrance, A Field in England, Kill List and High-Rise).

Written By Amy Jump and Ben Wheatley.

Starring: Sharlto Copley, Armie Hammer, Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Jack Reynor, Babou Ceesay, Enzo Cilenti, Sam Riley, Noah Taylor, Michael Smiley, Patrick Bergin, Tom Davis and Mark Monero.

"BANG!", "BANG!", "BANG!", "BANG!", "BANG!", "BANG!", "BANG!", "BANG!". That's pretty much all this movie is. "Free Fire" centers around a gun deal that goes terribly wrong and everybody starts shooting at each other. It's not that I don't hate the concept of it, it's just that this movie is so dreary and murky-looking all the way through. 25 years ago, a premise that was similar to this worked in Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs". Was it really violent? Yes, but we got to know the characters and understood their motivations. Unfortunately instead of firing colorful dialogue, "Free Fire" only fires point blanks.

The story is set in just one location, a deserted warehouse where American middlemen Justine (Brie Larson) has brokered a meeting between two IRA members, Chris (Cillian Murphy) and Frank (Michael Smiley) and a criminal gang led by the hot-tempered arms dealer, Vernon (Sharlto Copley) and his associates, Martin (Babou Ceesay), Harry (Jack Reynor), Gordon (Noah Taylor) and American representative, Ord (Armie Hammer). The two groups are trying to negotiate a good weapons deal but tensions quickly run high between them.

They trade personal insults at each other, a gun gets drawn, one man gets shot dead, everyone hides behind crates and they start shooting at each other. The shootout lasts for more than an hour and "Free Fire" thinks it can get away with it's fire-in-the-hole inception by firing some wit at us but the humor is never funny. Nobody escapes from the shootout unscathed as the men and Brie Larson get serious shot wounds in either the leg, arm or head. "Free Fire" was co-written and directed by Ben Wheatley (Sightseers, Down Terrance, Kill List, A Field in England) who helmed last year's "High-Rise" which I marginally liked. Wheatley has shown that he can be a skillful filmmaker but the problem with his movies is that he takes these high-concept ideas and they never go anywhere.

We also don't care about who lives or dies because most of these characters are so unlikable and uncharismatic but among the actors, I appreciated Brie Larson in this because she's more hip than the guys and let's not forget the fact that Larson plays the only female character in "Free Fire".

The only reload this movie needed was it's screenplay because it's never really involving. It may contain one colossal gunfight but "Free Fire" is just dull and boring.