You ever see one of those action
films that has one scene that blows you away and that’s what you remember most
about the film? Did you ever tell somebody, “Just get to that point and stop”
or “they should have made the whole film that one action scene” because it was
the only good part about the film? Well, here’s the thing: if you just do a
film about one big action scene, it doesn’t work, because it ends up being the
movie “Free Fire.”
The plot of “Free Fire” is as simple
as this: a group of people deal guns in an abandoned warehouse, someone
triggers a fire fight, and all hell breaks loose. Now this should sound like a
film that is made simply to be fun, right? Same kind of popcorn fun as last
year’s “Hardcore Henry” would be, which also had Shartlo Copley? Well…it’s
supposed to, but it’s not. “Free Fire” is a tediously long action scene that
lacks too much substance, to where I felt bored throughout it. This film isn’t
even an hour and a half long, and yet it felt over two hours. That’s not a
good sign.
One of the major problems that I
have with this movie is that we don’t know these characters enough to give a
shit about what happens to them. All we know is that they’re Irish and British
arms dealers, and that’s it. Sure, some of them bring up occurrences before the
events of the movie, but it isn’t enough to make these characters any more than
two-dimensional cut outs. It’s the same problem that I had with “Kong: Skull
Island” and “The Belko Experiment,” but at least those two films had somewhat of a plot. With
that little context with any of them, you don’t really end up rooting for
anybody in this film. Hell, I barely remember any of their names, even when
they’re constantly shouting them out every 12 seconds. The only thing I got out
of these characters was that Shartlo Copley and Brie Larson had a thing in the
past, Larson’s now with Cillian Murphy, and that Jack Reynor and Sam Riley hate
each other. That’s it.
Even the action, while it has somewhat
decent camera work, it isn’t really that exciting. After about ten minutes into
the titular free fire, I was close to nodding off. It was the most bored I had
been at an action film since “Assassin’s Creed”; all that was missing was the
camera to be shaking and the lens to be constantly dirty. It’s sad, because I’ve
heard so many other people compliment the director, Ben Wheatley, and his other
films. For this to be my introduction to his work, I haven't felt this cheated since "Sucker Punch" being my introduction to Zack Snyder.
I know this might seem a bit off topic, but let me talk a little bit about this short that I worked on earlier this year, with a somewhat similar scenario to “Free Fire,” where everyone is shooting at each other. The biggest difference is that it was confetti poppers instead of guns, it had better pacing, and it was only five minutes. It just goes to show that some things, especially action scenes, are better left short and to the point.
Overall, “Free Fire” was just a
waste of time. Even if you’re an action junkie or a fan of any of these actors,
it’s not worth it. It’s bland, tedious, and absolutely boring. Just go
see any other action movie out right now, or anything that has substance to it,
because this was just a chore to sit through.
Rating: 1/10
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