Brian Taylor and Peter Howe/For The Morning Star
An illegal arms deal goes wrong when a personal squabble amongst competing parties turns into a shootout at an abandoned factory.
We say, “Free Fire could be called Shootout at the Warehouse.”
HOWE: Guns, bullets, shooting, more guns, talking, shooting, even more guns and some stone throwing. That sums up Free Fire. I was pretty surprised at how much I did enjoy Free Fire, yes it’s a silly idea for a movie but it was dotted throughout with some lighter moments to give it an early Tarantino feel.
TAYLOR: I don’t think it’s silly. Showdowns always have to take place somewhere. A warehouse, or factory is as good a place as any, lots of hidey-holes. The thing that makes Free Fire different from other movies, including, for instance, Reservoir Dogs, is that there is no character development, no back story, no real plot beyond “a gun deal gone wrong ends in shootout.” This is fine because Free Fire doesn’t want to be anything other than what it is, a light movie about death by bullets.
HOWE: Even though there are no really any big stars in it, some you will recognize, each one brings their skills full on to the table. The script is pretty tight, the dialogue not too slow, won’t make you snoozy and there’s enough gun fire to keep the most ardent videogamer happy throughout the whole movie. The only problem that I have with it was that it rolled on way too long, even though it’s just a little over an hour and a half, it did feel like I was sitting there for a lifetime.
TAYLOR: I got a bit bored about half way through. There’s only so much crawling around bleeding that I can find entertaining. I liked the ending, very non-Hollywood. Still, I think this film, like its title, will be forgotten in short order. If you’re in the mood for an old-fashioned (’70s) shootout, Free Fire and that’s all, fits the bill.
Taylor gives Free Fire 3 empty clips out of 5.
Howe gives it 2.5 fire extinguishers out of 5.