Free Fire (2017)
Action, Crime, Comedy
Directed By: Ben Wheatley
With franchise culture at an all-time high, and every movie seemingly having to connect to something else, it feels wonderful to see a movie that is just simple. No crazy plot twists, no overcrowding, no complex story beats, just pure and simple fun. That is exactly what Free Fire, the latest from Ben Wheatley is. What could have easily been some highbrow crime movie is instead a ninety-minute action packed laugh riot that stars one of the most impressive casts of the year.
It's 1978 and two gangs arrive at an abandoned warehouse in Boston to make a deal. The Irish want guns for their war back home and the sellers simply want to get rich. The deal doesn't go over as smooth as they'd hoped, however, and before they know what's happening they find themselves in a bloody shootout for the guns and the cash. It is an hour and a half of dirty, bloody, violent, hilarious action that feels more authentic than most movies of its kind.
Wheatley's style is unique making all of his films divisive, it seems film geeks either love him or hate him. This should be no different, though it is his movie that most appeals to general audiences, its simplicity may turn away some of his older fans. He's not trying to do anything profound here, he just brought together an incredible cast, gave them a simple story, and let the bullets do the rest.
Armie Hammer, Sam Riley, and Jack Reynor are stand-outs here. Though the rest of the cast is impressive in its own right with great performances from the likes of Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, and Michael Smiley, it's these three that make the movie as entertaining as it is. Armie Hammer has more swagger in this movie than a pimp on a Saturday night and his interactions with most of the other characters are wildly funny. Sam Riley plays a pivotal role as Stevo, a junkie with a big mouth and man does he play a wonderful piece of shit.
Jack Reynor was my personal favorite, I found his character to be the only one in this scenario that you could feel bad for in anyway, thus putting me on his side right out of the gate. He's also funny as hell and strikes great chemistry with Armie Hammer, give these guys a buddy movie! They all spend most of the film in the dirt, covered in bullet wounds yet each of them manages to find a way to be remembered.
Often times when a film tries to do "period piece on a budget" they forget that aesthetic isn't the only key to telling a decade's old tale. These characters have to walk and more importantly talk like they are from the times the are portraying. This is something that struck me early on in this flick, not only do they all look wonderfully 70's in their fashion, but they are scripted just as they should be. The entire story takes place in an abandoned warehouse, yet it is undeniably a 70's set movie.
Free Fire is hardly the first movie we have seen of its kind, good old fashioned "shoot em' ups" have been around since the days of the classic western, but he infuses it with an attitude and kind of humor that makes it feel fresh. Though the violence is often and brutal, he's not showing us anything new or even that audacious, but he continually surprises us with the humor. Take for example a scene between Armie Hammer and Jack Reynor's characters where they get into a fight. It's an expected turn in the story at that point, but Wheatley finishes it in the last way you'd think. It's a brilliant, hilarious moment that is a perfect embodiment of what he is trying to do here.
With the social landscape rapidly changing bullet heavy movies like this have come under some scrutiny for potentially "fetishizing" gun culture. I personally don't think a film where a bunch of people who are trying to buy guns and end up being picked off one by one with said guns to be anything more than a cautionary tale. Bullets hurt and this movie wants you to not only know that but feel it as well while these people are continually crawling through the dirt only be shot, again and again, its agonizing.
I'll always applaud a movie for getting right into it without wasting way too much time on setup and character introduction. Free Fire gets all of that out of the way in the first ten minutes and from there continues to be a non-stop piece of action cinema. It may not be as profound as his previous work but it also offers up more pure entertainment value than any of it as well. This a simple movie made for us to spend ninety minutes having a blast in the theater, embrace it.
As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!
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