Free Fire
In 1970s Massachussetts, two IRA members, Frank (Michael Smiley) and Chris (Cillian Murphy) are arranging a gun deal through an intermediary called Justine (Brie Larson). They meet up with Ord (Armie Hammer) and an eccentric arms dealer named Vernon (Shalto Copley). Representatives of the two groups antagonise one another which escalates into a shootout across an abandoned warehouse.
In every film review I've written recently I seem to comment on the lack of plot and it's the case again here. If you want to know anything about the motivations of these characters, you're unlikely to find it. It's not really the point of Free Fire though. Ben Wheatley directed last year's exceedingly disappointing "High Rise" but is back on steadier ground here. On Kermode and Mayo's Film Review last week, Wheatley said he wanted to create a film with a realistic gun fight, where characters would frequently miss each other and suffer from the loud sounds. In that regard, he has succeeded and it feels like a genuinely cinematic experience as bullets are heard from all directions around the screen.
Copley gets most of the laughs as Vernon, a man "who was misdiagnosed as a child genius and never got over it", cranking up a South African accent to a ludicrous degree. The most distinctive performances come from the menacing Smiley and the detached, cool Hammer, the latter of whom is involved in one of the film's delightfully dark comedic moments towards the end.
The action becomes bogged down somewhat in the middle section, with little variation on a pattern of potshots and swearing but neatly builds to a satisfying conclusion as further elements are folded in. It's a fun little movie, even though I'm starting to crave something a little more substantial from a trip to the pictures.
In every film review I've written recently I seem to comment on the lack of plot and it's the case again here. If you want to know anything about the motivations of these characters, you're unlikely to find it. It's not really the point of Free Fire though. Ben Wheatley directed last year's exceedingly disappointing "High Rise" but is back on steadier ground here. On Kermode and Mayo's Film Review last week, Wheatley said he wanted to create a film with a realistic gun fight, where characters would frequently miss each other and suffer from the loud sounds. In that regard, he has succeeded and it feels like a genuinely cinematic experience as bullets are heard from all directions around the screen.
Copley gets most of the laughs as Vernon, a man "who was misdiagnosed as a child genius and never got over it", cranking up a South African accent to a ludicrous degree. The most distinctive performances come from the menacing Smiley and the detached, cool Hammer, the latter of whom is involved in one of the film's delightfully dark comedic moments towards the end.
The action becomes bogged down somewhat in the middle section, with little variation on a pattern of potshots and swearing but neatly builds to a satisfying conclusion as further elements are folded in. It's a fun little movie, even though I'm starting to crave something a little more substantial from a trip to the pictures.
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