Harry (Jack Reynor, Sing Street) shoots first in Free Fire. One of ten figures assembled in a Boston warehouse for an arms deal, his blood boils over a dispute from the previous evening, and his trigger finger itches into action. Forget about later — everyone else asks questions immediately, and provides their response instantly too. Swapping flames for bullets, the phrase “fighting fire with fire” has rarely felt so appropriate.
Indeed, giving writer/director Ben Wheatley’s sixth film the moniker Free Fire is telling. From the first round, the air echoes with shots flying frequently — and, with flair and glee, this shoot-em-up transforms the action genre’s shiny showcase from a brief burst of combat into the entire event. It’s a movie that isn’t simply built around a gun battle; it is a gun battle. Even before the crew converge in full and start using their weapons with reckless abandon, they’re shooting whatever they can each other’s way: insults and barbs, posturing and flirting, and proof that they’re manlier men, more accomplished in running guns, and more deserving of broker Justine’s (Brie Larson, Kong: Skull Island) attention, for example.
It’s the 1970s, which could be used to explain the ego-thumping on show between Harry and the other eight guys; however the usual misanthropy Wheatley and his regular co-writer Amy Jump have demonstrated over the course of their careers — with the savage smarts of Kill List, Sightseers and High-Rise among their efforts — does a better job. Given a chance, humanity will find a way to mess with, hurt, and murder each other, they once again make plain. With IRA members Frank (Michael Smiley, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and Chris (Cillian Murphy, The Party), plus their hired goons Stevo (Sam Riley, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) and Bernie (Enzo Cilenti, Bridget Jones’s Baby), on one side; South African supplier Vernon (Sharlto Copley, TV’s Powers), his acquaintance Martin (Babou Ceesay, Eye in the Sky), Harry and flunky Gordon (Noah Taylor, Deep Water) on the other; and Justine and fellow intermediary Ord (Armie Hammer, Call Me By Your Name) in the middle, that proves the case here, of course.
As well as its caustic commentary, revelling in the period aesthetic, enjoying perhaps the most crime fun in a dusty space since Reservoir Dogs, and showing that prolonged shootouts aren’t just for John Wick’s bullet-riddled balletic display are what Wheatley fires at the screen. One comes with the fitting attire; the second with dialogue that sometimes lands, sometimes ricochets; and the last with a ground-level perspective as Free Fire’s characters spend the bulk of their time on the ground, injured and bleeding, while trying to shelter behind wooden crates and concrete posts to both cover from and return the spray.
Most of those brandishing a firearm mightn’t always hit the mark, but the film largely shoots straight: toying with its fire-fight scenario, stretching it beyond the usual bounds, and watching the projectile-like onslaught of piercing behaviour that arises as a result certainly makes an impact, and repeatedly, as intended. In fact, it’s entertaining, effective, and impressively choreographed, whether scrounging around on the floor as the group attempts to survive even though they can’t overcome their worst impulses, or rolling its eyes in tone as often as Justine does physically at the whole inevitable mess. The cinematography and editing — the former by regular collaborator Laurie Rose, the latter by Wheatley and Jump — helps convey both the crawling viewpoint and chaotic, irreverent, caustic vibe desired. And as for those raising their weapons and rolling around, the cast makes for a suitably eclectic band of misfits getting down and dirty, with Larson’s poise, Hammer’s swagger and Murphy’s charm particularly blazing away.
Rating: 3 ½ stars out of 5
Free Fire
Director: Ben Wheatley
UK | France, 2016, 90 mins
Release date: April 27
Distributor: Sony
Rated: MA
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