'Free Fire' Review

Free Fire follows the break-out of a fervent firefight once an arms deal goes awry. Straight from the get-go, writer-director Ben Wheatley establishes a Tarantino-esque tone, premise, and setting inhabited by tough wisecrackers who could've walked straight off the set of Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction. Even though the plot and setting of Free Fire calls a few of Quentin Tarantino classics to mind, Wheatley manages to distance his film enough that it never retreads familiar ground.

Free Fire is very much it's own thing, a quirky hour and half crossfire. I'll let you know now not to expect much beyond the shoot-out and preceding set-up because there's little to no traditional plot structure in Free Fire once the insanity ensues. The constant crossfire does grow tiring in some moments but as soon as you're about to check out, you'll be brought back in by the outrageous antics these characters carry out. The cinematography employed also involves a number of cool camera tricks to make up for the lower budget and maintain the intense energy throughout the firefight.

Due to the film's smaller budget and the confines of the space allowed, there aren't any particularly memorable stunts or action beats but the captivating characters more than make up for this. The screenplay penned by Wheatley and co-writer Amy Jump doesn't explore the characters too deeply and that actually works in the film's favor because you're not quite sure who'll make it out alive when everything's all said and done.

The script quickly takes a turn towards over-the-top ridiculousness and Free Fire becomes an outright comedy when the aim of these characters is so poor that they can't hit one another from ten feet away. There's something sadistically entertaining about watching these characters confined to close-quarters conflict because the characters are charismatic scoundrels. You dislike them because who they are or what they've done, but you won't be able to help but enjoy every minute they're taunting and shooting at one another. Free Fire's got quite the arsenal in terms of its accomplished cast featuring the likes of Brie Larson, Armie Hammer, Jack Reynor, Cillian Murphy, and Sharlto Copley. Everyone puts forth a commendable performance but Hammer and Copley stood out for their particular personalities as the levelheaded and kooky individuals respectively.

There's not really much else to say about Free Fire due to the simple, self-explanatory premise. If this sounds interesting to you, then I say it's worth checking out. If not, then this simply isn't for you. I'd say Free Fire took its shot and hit its mark because Free Fire turned out to be exactly what I wanted; a delightful over-the-top self-contained shoot-em-up.

Film Assessment: B