Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

Free Fire Blu-ray Movie Review

Battle Proletariat.

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.

Free Fire Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Free Fire is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Once again the IMDb doesn't have much information on technical data for this film, but several online sites list the Arri Alexa XT as having been utilized. There are actually some pretty interesting interviews or other articles devoted to cinematographer Laurie Rose's work on the film, including the challenges of lighting a film taking place within such limited confines, and I recommend fans of the film doing a little Googling to find those pieces. While this has the generally high and precise detail levels that Alexa digital capture routinely offers, there are recurrent issues with both the dim lighting as well as an overall yellowish tint to the proceedings (which can be easily seen in many, maybe even most, of the screenshots accompanying this review). The lighting choices coupled with grading tends to keep detail levels at a somewhat less fulsome level at times, especially in midrange and wide shots. Even some close-ups can suffer from seemingly odd lighting choices that keep supposedly focal elements from revealing much detail (see screenshot 17).

Free Fire Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Free Fire boasts an energetic DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, though I personally kept wondering what a DTS:X or Dolby Atmos mix might have done for this home video release, what with the prevalence of gunfire erupting at regular intervals. The gunplay gives the track recurrent energy and good pops of LFE, and there are some excellent and even delightfully comic panning effects as bullets ricochet off of various objects, especially in the early going of the gunfight. Several scenes that feature characters all screaming at each other virtually in unison have good discrete channelization as well, helping to clearly delineate the sonic "geography". Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly on this problem free track, though the "Howard Hawks"-ian element of overlapping snippets can make individual lines a bit hard to pick out at times.

Free Fire Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Ben Wheatley, Cillian Murphy and Jack Reynor


• The Making of Free Fire (1080p; 15:58) is the requisite EPK, which at least offers better lighting conditions for the interview segments than the bulk of the film does.

Free Fire Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.