Free Fire Movie Review

Free Fire (2016)

Rent Free Fire on Amazon Video
Written by: Amy Jump and Ben Wheatley (screenplay by)
Directed by: Ben Wheatley
Starring: Sharlto Copley, Brie Larson, Armie Hammer, Cillian Murphy
Rated: R

Plot
Set in Boston in 1978, a meeting in a deserted warehouse between arms buyers and sellers turns into a shootout and a game of survival.

Verdict
It's not without a few faults, but I love the concept of a single shoot out spanning an entire movie. While the concept wears a bit thin towards the end, it does try to keep you engrossed and succeeds for the most part. The underlying story is simple, but effective. I had a lot of fun with this. It takes some nice twists and contains a fair amount of dark humor.
Watch it.

Review
I was surprised to discover this is from the same director as High Rise (2015). If I had known that, I may not have seen this as quickly as I did. High Rise tried to be a commentary on society, but it wasn't very entertaining (read my review).

Free Fire definitely nails the '70s aesthetic from the look to the sound. While Armie Hammer didn't fare well in The Lone Ranger (2013), he does well playing British. He's set up a deal between gun buyers and sellers. He's a fun character, disinterested and glib. All the characters bring something unique to the screen. The frequent arguing provides a nice depth.
Sharlto Copley plays Vernon, the seller. His accent is difficult to place and even the characters joke about that. He's a narcissistic jerk and it's easy to see that his associate Martin is obviously tired of Vernon's crap. That's revealed with subtlety through facial expressions.

The jump off comes when two characters that had an altercation the previous night meet during the buy. Before they see each other, the movie alluded each of them had a fight, but it's a surprise when we realize the coincidence of the situation. They resume their fight and this leads to a multi-person shoot out in the warehouse. Almost everyone gets shot, but this isn't the type of movie where shots fired while running and diving are incredibly precise. Everyone is shot, but the body count stays low.

A movie like this could end in stale mate or string this out, but a third party shows up bewildering everyone as no one knows who they are. The movie takes some nice twists to keep things interesting. I like the plot and how it unfolds. The shootout does start to feel a little long, but it's not detrimental. Though I did start wishing the movie would get on with it so I could see who would actually walk away. Well, crawl away.

There's a lot of crawling in this movie. I get staying low for cover, but even outside of the main warehouse characters crawl. Maybe getting shot in the leg is so detrimental that you can't hop on your other leg, but it did seem strange.
While it may be a budget issue, I would have liked to see some overhead camera shots to get a better sense of the layout of this warehouse. It's not always clear everyone's exact location. Apparently Wheatley first built a model of the set in the video game Minecraft.

Just when I thought the movie was over, and I was liking the ending, a character I had forgotten about pops up to wreak mayhem. It's a darker ending, but I like that one too.