Free Fire
Ben Wheatley isn't an easy director to pin down - from the dark comedy of Sightseers, to the panic inducing intensity of Kill List and the full on insanity of High-Rise, his six films so far have all been wildly different. One thing is pretty much guaranteed though, there will be blood.
Free Fire is set in 1970s USA. I needn't be more specific than that as the entire film takes place inside a single abandoned warehouse. Irish gangsters Chris (Cillian Murphy) and Frank (Michael Smiley) meet with South African arms dealer Vernon (Sharlto Copley) in a deal set up by Americans Ord (Armie Hammer) and Justine (Brie Larson). With tension and testosterone running high it all goes south pretty quickly and becomes a game of survival as both sides refuse to back down.
Drawing obvious inspiration from Sam Peckinpah and Martin Scorsese, Free Fire is essentially an 80 minute shootout with about 10 minutes of set up. Such an idea would fail miserably if it didn't back itself up with a killer script. Luckily, Wheatley's partner and long-term collaborator Amy Jump has delivered dialogue that pings and fizzes just as much as the bullets ricocheting around on screen.
Free Fire came under a certain amount of criticism for not being as intense or original as some of the director’s earlier work, but considering his ability and desire to dance so deftly between genres, that criticism seems wholly unfair. Free Fire is Wheatley's accessible action movie, and the fact that he's made it on a fraction of the budget, maintaining the same indie sensibilities of his earlier work is something that should be applauded. Wickedly funny and hilariously violent, I can't wait to see what he does next.
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