Free Fire (2016) [Blu-ray]
Action | Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Bold, breathless and wickedly fun, Free Fire is an electrifying comedy-thriller about an arms deal that goes spectacularly and explosively wrong. Set in a colorful yet gritty 1970s Boston, Free Fire opens with Justine (Oscar winner Brie Larson), a mysterious American businesswoman, and her wise-cracking associate Ord (Armie Hammer) arranging a black-market weapons deal in a deserted warehouse between IRA arms buyer Chris (Cillian Murphy) and shifty South African gun runner Vernon (Sharlto Copley). What starts as a polite if uneasy exchange soon goes south when tensions escalate and shots are fired, quickly leading to a full-on Battle Royale where its every man (and woman) for themselves.

Storyline: Set in Boston in 1978, a meeting in a deserted warehouse between two gangs turns into a shootout and a game of survival.

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, July 8, 2017 You might not believe it were it not for the fact that it's emblazoned proudly across the front cover of Free Fire, but this odd film, one which plays like the final fifteen minutes of any given action adventure flick expanded to a full hour and a half running time, bears the imprimatur of a certain Martin Scorsese. Now granted, Scorsese didn't direct Free Fire, and he is in fact just one of several Executive Producers, but the fact that he's so boldly listed on the cover of this release might lead some to assume that there's a certain Scorsese-ian aspect to the film, when, aside from some visceral action sequences, some may find that connection hard to actually discern. Free Fire plays like a pretty rote showdown between a variety of unseemly criminal types, albeit one filtered through a seventies' sensibility that perhaps unintentionally evokes entries like American Hustle, but one area where Scorsese films typically excel is notably absent here: namely, character development. Perhaps it's unnecessary for characters to be developed when the main focus of the film is simply gun play, not to mention the fact that it doesn't take all that long for at least some characters to meet their fates (making "development" kind of meaningless in any case), but this is a film without much in the way of psychological insight, preferring instead to simply plop down a motley crew of nemeses in a warehouse where a supposedly epic gun battle ensues.

Scorsese probably would have invested one aspect of Free Fire's minimalist plot with a bit more context, but co-writer and director Ben Wheatley seems kind of blithely unconcerned that there's an IRA connection to a gun deal that is at the center of the film's story. Two IRA members, Chris (Cillian Murphy) and Frank (Michael Smiley), have arranged a major weapons purchase through intermediaries named Justine (Brie Larson) and Ord (Armie Hammer). Unfortunately for the Irish freedom fighters, the folks selling the firearms include Vernon (Sharlto Copley), who has decided to change the terms of the transaction without consulting his putative business partners. As if that weren't enough to ignite a melee (which, oddly, it isn't), drivers delivering all these underworld types to their appointed rounds turn out to have roiling connections which do in fact erupt into the shootout which takes up the bulk of the film.

Probably the single biggest issue facing Free Fire is that there's not exactly anyone most people are going to be rooting for as various folks get picked off like veritable flies. Now, there's a nicely and rather well articulated blackly comedic flow to some of the shenanigans at play, and it is admittedly funny (in a very dark way) to see various people get dinged or grazed by bullets in the early going, leading to a bunch of "kvetching" as folks take up hiding places around a location that is both cavernous but claustrophobic. But then—well, there's the rub. There really isn't that much "then" to this film, with basically an hour given over to seeing who, if anyone, makes it out alive.

Given the fact that rather minimal information is given about all of the characters, there's little to no context, even with regard to Frank and one of his drivers, Stevo (Sam Riley), who are evidently related (as evidenced by some passing dialogue) and whose back story would seem rife for exploration. Instead time is given over to Stevo's supposed peccadillo from the night previous to this showdown, something that brings him into conflict with another driver, Harry (Jack Reynor), and which in fact leads to all the mayhem that follows. With various people shouting out their competing (and differing) rationales for the violence, it's like watching a Cliffs Notes version of Rashômon, with none (or very little) of the nuance and philosophical underpinnings.

With the bantering between criminals, all of whom are intent on doing the others in, it might have been more helpful had Free Fire offered the imprimatur of Quentin Tarantino rather than Martin Scorsese. There's a certain Tarantino-esque quality to at least some of the goings on in this film, and those who are willing to devote an hour and a half of their lives to an ersatz version of Tarantino may get enough bang for their buck (so to speak) out of this middling but occasionally exciting and bleakly humorous film.

Maybe without that attribution to the legendary Martin Scorsese Free Fire can be appreciated for its low grade pleasures, which aren't especially deep but which do provide occasional snark and flair. Wheatley seems like a kind of B-movie mash up of Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino, and for fans of those directors, Free Fire might provide some passing amusement. Video encounters a few detail issues mostly related to lighting and grading, but the audio sounds great.

[CSW] -3.8- There are no good guys and bad guys, there are only bad guys. There are no moral questions it is all immoral. There is no right and wrong it is all wrong. This is the epitome of a fairly simple British dark comedy/drama, and from that stand point it is excellent. Generally poor planning on by both sides put everyone's life at risk. In addition, some of the characters were unwilling and/or unhappy! Mix in some bad blood, fist fights and weapons... and it is fun for all !!! The movie is properly named because once the scene is set at the movie's start, then all the rest of the movie is one continuous fast-moving shooting and the bullets never stop flying, except for some bludgeoning and chokings with the added twist of there being more participants than originally expected. And boy, do those bullets sting when they hit a character! Moans, curses, screams seem to indicate a hit and only at the end does the gunfire seem actually lethal. Expert direction, to say the least !!! There is the interplay of characters concerned about members on their side, but remember I said there are only bad guys who at time care about other bad guys all with typical British dark humor dialogue. You may not like it but I did.
[V4.0-A4.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box


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