Free Fire– Film Review

Cast: Sharlto Copley, Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Armie Hammer, Jack Reynor, Enzo Cilenti

Director: Ben Wheatley

Synopsis: Two parties meet in an old abandoned warehouse to complete a deal to buy some guns. However when the deal goes awry, the bullets begin to fly…

Review: Whenever you have a set up in a film that consists of several groups of people meeting up in a disused warehouse/factory to negotiate the sale of some weapons, appropriately enough in the case, some guns, chances are that something will go amiss. Tensions will flare for one reason or another, some folks will get angry and before you know it we have one absolutely mental shootout that has every single character fighting to stay alive.

Before those bullets fly however, we’re introduced rather quickly to our core group of characters. On one side you have Cillian Murphy as an Irishman who’s looking to buy the guns from and Sharlto Copley’s very thick accented Vernon, in a deal that has been facilitated by Justine (Brie Larson) and Ord (Armie Hammer) . The script, co-written by director Ben Wheatley and Amy Jump does its best to flesh out the characters, which it does well for some, but less so for others. Copley’s arms dealer is perhaps the shining light of this unpleasant mob. He’s a man who’s clearly got the eye for Justine, despite his less than pleasant attempts to flirt with her, amusing to the audience perhaps but less so for Justine. However, the pleasantries do not last for long, and soon enough everyone is armed and ready to kill,  and a fight to be the last man (or woman?) standing ensues.

Immediate, the film has the feel as if it was a film that was made in the era that it’s set, it has a real 1970s vibe to it. Wheatley and Jump’s script is filled with some very funny moments, with some superb lines of dialogue that feel almost as if Mr Tarantino himself wrote them. Speaking of, there will no doubt be comparisons to Reservoir Dogs given the premise and the similarity that everyone is soon turning on one another to create multiple Mexican stand off-ish situations. Except there’s no squad of men in your standard suits, as the clothes this time are a little bit more garish.

When the shooting is taking place it is gripping for the most part, however there are moments where the films lapses in terms of pace as the various crews lick their wounds in-between firing off a round of bullets, many of which do not find their targets. The nature of the shootouts are very stop-start with a lot of angry talking and yelling from the characters in between the exchanges of bullets and angry curse words being hurled, and lots of hobbling around desperately seeking cover from the bullets raining down upon them.

Wheatley helms the action by and large pretty well, the scenes are well cut together and the editing in scenes where there bullets are raining down is really well done. At the start, the tension is built really well as you know that someone is going to get trigger happy at a moment’s notice. Yet this tension is not maintained throughout the firestorm that ensues. The great humour and angry insults that the characters hurl at each other keeps the story going but for a 90 minute feature, it does drag at times, which given the premise of bullets here, bullets there and bullets everywhere is perplexing, but when the film does finally reach its conclusion, it’s a satisfying one that ensures it hits in target and in style too.

A stylish fusion of comedy and action, with some very quotable dialogue and mostly pulsating action sequences ensures that for the most part hits its target with precision.