A fan-favorite movie starring Brie Larson (Captain Marvel) is officially leaving Netflix today: Free Fire. The 2016 action-comedy-crime-thriller was directed by Ben Wheatley, who is up to next direct the action-survival-thriller The Meg 2: The Trench. The script was co-written by Wheatley and his former collaborator Amy Jump, who he also worked with on Marvel star Tom Hiddleston’s drama-thriller High-Rise. In addition to Wheatley, Jump, and Larson, Free Fire is a throwback gem showcasing a whole ensemble of actors that we now know so much better.
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Synopsis: Stevo (Sam Riley) and Bernie (Enzo Cilenti) are driving to meet two IRA members, Chris (Cillian Murphy) and Frank (Michael Smiley). On the way, Stevo tells Bernie that he was beaten up the previous day by the cousin of a woman he abused. The group meet outside a Boston warehouse, where they wait with intermediary Justine (Brie Larson). A representative arrives, Ord (Armie Hammer), who leads them inside. The group is there to buy guns from arms dealer Vernon (Sharlto Copley) and his associates, Martin (Babou Ceesay), Harry (Jack Reynor) and Gordon (Noah Taylor). Despite tensions between the two groups and the fact that Vernon supplied the wrong weapons, Chris’ group secure the weapons in a van and hand over the money in a briefcase…
As you can see, names like Brie Larson (The Marvels), Sharlto Copley (District 10), Armie Hammer (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.), Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders), Sam Riley (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil), Noah Taylor (Preacher), or Jack Reynor (Midsommar) now seem like an impossibly eclectic mix of actors to bring together – but Ben Wheatley did it. That alone should be reason enough for action fans to check out Free Fire before it’s gone…
As Empire says in its review of Free Fire:
“Wheatley’s economy of storytelling is impressive here. There are ten key characters and at least four groups in this story of an arms deal gone wrong, but their personalities and relationships are so briskly established that, when the bullets start flying twenty minutes in, we can predict who each person will target or protect. Or – this being Wheatley – we think we can. Comparisons to Reservoir Dogs are probably inevitable given the warehouse setting, copious firearms and endlessly quotable script, but this is a sleeker and more violent film (though perhaps less sadistic)… [He] continues an unbroken run of quality, helped by a great cast and a startlingly effective premise. This is seriously cool, stuffed with great dialogue and riddled with bullets.”
Free Fire will be on Netflix until the end of today.
