I absolutely did not want to leave my house last night, so right off the bat, I was distracted and fidgety, which is such a shame because Free Fire 100% has all the necessary elements of being a tongue in cheek, highly quotable, laugh out loud funny, farcical, retro classic. But, I wasn't paying enough attention to actually confirm any of these things with total certainty.
What I do know, is that it has the potential to be a cult hit on the home viewing market - for definite.
Free Fire, is a British Action Comedy, written and directed by Ben Wheatley (High Rise, Kill List) starring Brie Larson, Armie Hammer, Sam Riley, Sharlto Copley, Cillian Murphy, Michael Smiley, Noah Taylor, Jack Reynor, Babou Ceesay, Patrick Bergan, Tom Davis and Enzo Cilenti.
I have literally named the entire cast and that's because each and every one of them is completely necessary and totally committed to taking the piss out of themselves and each other.
The whole 90 minute movie is an IRA/American arms deal gone wrong, set in real time. We are introduced to all the characters and the scene is set, the deal is about to be done, when one thing after another goes wrong, until someone fires their gun and it just descends into oddly paced madness.
The editing is seamless, the effects are flawless and the kills are gruesome. There's fire, machine guns, sniper rifles, commando rolls, blood and dirt, with some recreational drug use and John Denver, thrown in for good measure.
Essentially its the last ten minutes of reservoir dogs stretched out for 90 minutes - at some points the extreme slo mo way of presenting the action is really funny and totally deliberate. I am actually chuckling at my desk at the genius Ben Wheatley really is.
I was asked what I thought of it when I got home and my first words were 'It's a grower' and that's definitely my overall opinion - it didn't warrant a cinema trip at all but it deserves to be watched and appreciated for what it is and thats a funny, well made film. Ben Wheatley wrote, directed and edited this movie, so its wholly his own and it shows. I love it when a film is completely someone's baby, from start to finish, I feel like it makes it more of a personal experience.
It usually isn't until I'm sitting here writing that I realise what it is I watched and in all honesty, I want to watch it again and again, so I can take in every shot (camera and gun) and every silly exchange between all the odd ball characters so masterfully played by a pretty heavy duty cast.
Sharlto Copley using his native accent always makes me smile and his one liners are just so quick and sharp, I adore him in this type of role.
Armie Hammer is another one that makes me beam - I don't think the world realises how funny he is. He has such an 'All American good boy' look to him but if you really pay attention to him, he seems to be someone who will never take himself too seriously and I think that's one of the most luminous character traits any human being can have.
Like I said this doesn't warrant a cinema visit but it certainly warrants a DVD purchase. I feel like this will take on a life of its own similar to the skyward trajectory The Boondock Saints took, when everyone realised that there was nothing serious about that film whatsoever and it was supposed to be funny.
The only complaint/question I have, is that pretty much everyone used their own accents, so why was Sam Riley, who is English, doing a Brooklyn accent in Boston??
What I do know, is that it has the potential to be a cult hit on the home viewing market - for definite.
Free Fire, is a British Action Comedy, written and directed by Ben Wheatley (High Rise, Kill List) starring Brie Larson, Armie Hammer, Sam Riley, Sharlto Copley, Cillian Murphy, Michael Smiley, Noah Taylor, Jack Reynor, Babou Ceesay, Patrick Bergan, Tom Davis and Enzo Cilenti.
I have literally named the entire cast and that's because each and every one of them is completely necessary and totally committed to taking the piss out of themselves and each other.
The whole 90 minute movie is an IRA/American arms deal gone wrong, set in real time. We are introduced to all the characters and the scene is set, the deal is about to be done, when one thing after another goes wrong, until someone fires their gun and it just descends into oddly paced madness.
The editing is seamless, the effects are flawless and the kills are gruesome. There's fire, machine guns, sniper rifles, commando rolls, blood and dirt, with some recreational drug use and John Denver, thrown in for good measure.
Essentially its the last ten minutes of reservoir dogs stretched out for 90 minutes - at some points the extreme slo mo way of presenting the action is really funny and totally deliberate. I am actually chuckling at my desk at the genius Ben Wheatley really is.
I was asked what I thought of it when I got home and my first words were 'It's a grower' and that's definitely my overall opinion - it didn't warrant a cinema trip at all but it deserves to be watched and appreciated for what it is and thats a funny, well made film. Ben Wheatley wrote, directed and edited this movie, so its wholly his own and it shows. I love it when a film is completely someone's baby, from start to finish, I feel like it makes it more of a personal experience.
It usually isn't until I'm sitting here writing that I realise what it is I watched and in all honesty, I want to watch it again and again, so I can take in every shot (camera and gun) and every silly exchange between all the odd ball characters so masterfully played by a pretty heavy duty cast.
Sharlto Copley using his native accent always makes me smile and his one liners are just so quick and sharp, I adore him in this type of role.
Armie Hammer is another one that makes me beam - I don't think the world realises how funny he is. He has such an 'All American good boy' look to him but if you really pay attention to him, he seems to be someone who will never take himself too seriously and I think that's one of the most luminous character traits any human being can have.
Like I said this doesn't warrant a cinema visit but it certainly warrants a DVD purchase. I feel like this will take on a life of its own similar to the skyward trajectory The Boondock Saints took, when everyone realised that there was nothing serious about that film whatsoever and it was supposed to be funny.
The only complaint/question I have, is that pretty much everyone used their own accents, so why was Sam Riley, who is English, doing a Brooklyn accent in Boston??