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Free Fire (Blu-ray Review)

13th August 2017 By Tim Isaac

Starring: Armie Hammer, Sharlto Copley, Brie Larson, Sam Riley, Jack Reynor
Directed By: Ben Wheatley
Running Time: 91 mins
BBFC Certificate: 15
UK Release Date: August 7th 2017 (UK)

Our Score

After the complex and rather operatic JG Ballard adaptation High-Rise, Ben Wheatley has gone for something that’s far simpler in terms of plot, but perhaps just as complicated in terms of technical execution with Free Fire.

It’s the 1970s, and in a warehouse in Boston a group of American are hoping to sell some Irish men some guns. Things are already a little tense and distrustful when it’s revealed the weapons aren’t the exact ones ordered, but things get completely out of hand when one of the Yanks realises one of the Irish guys is the man who assaulted his cousin the night before. [Read more…]

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Armie Hammer, Sharlto Copley, Brie Larson, Sam Riley, Jack Reynor  DIRECTORS: Ben Wheatley  

Armie Hammer To Star In Ben Wheatley’s Freakshift, Opposite Alicia Vikander

5th April 2017 By Tim Isaac

Ben Wheatley’s Free Fire has just hit UK cinemas, but he’s already planning his next movie, with Alicia Vikander signed up to star. Now he’s got one of his Free Fire stars to join the cast, as Deadline reports that Armie Hammer is now onboard.

The movie is an ‘action thriller about a band of misfit cops who hunt down and kill nocturnal underground monsters’. Vikander is taking the lead role, with Hammer as her love interest.

Wheatley is set to direct from a script he co-wrote Freakshift with his wife, Amy Jump. The movie is due to start shooting this August, once Vikander has finished shooting the remake of Tomb Raider.

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander  DIRECTORS: Ben Wheatley  

Free Fire (Cinema Review)

4th April 2017 By George Elcombe

Starring: Sharlto Copley, Armie Hammer, Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy
Directed By: Ben Wheatley
Running Time: 91 Minutes
UK Release Date: 31st March 2017
BBFC Certificate: 15

Our Score

There is no doubt that Ben Wheatley is a rising British talent whose previous work effortlessly blends comedy, drama, action, the macabre, surreal tones and suspense; all the while being entertaining and engaging for an audience. But with his movies, you never really know what to expect. It comes as little surprise that he has amassed a well-known and highly talented international cast for his latest feature, Free Fire. However, on this film is he bringing out the big guns or firing blanks, dodgy puns fully intended?

Without giving away too much, Free Fire is a mostly-single-location action comedy about an illegal arms deal in a warehouse between two gangs, which quickly goes sour resulting in all characters having a shootout.

Having said that, I feel that I have disclosed the entirety of the film, which is at heart a simplistic premise with some great lines of dialogue, a cool soundtrack and a few hilarious moments. All in all it’s a fun and often silly watch, but it’s hard to stretch out this concept into a feature length film and it may have been better suited as an hour long TV show.

I’ll start with the negatives first of all by saying that it doesn’t live up to the hype, but don’t let that put you off if you are interested in seeing it. At points the editing is a mess and you wonder how some characters moved into certain areas in the warehouse, and the use of soundtrack isn’t as iconic or well-placed as other 70’s set action films.

It has the feel of a low budget film that was shot in a weekend and to summarise, it’s mostly dubious and incompetent criminals crawling around a dusty warehouse while trying to shoot each other and missing for the majority of its run time.

But now onto the positives! The first part of the film is great at setting up the characters, their history and their dominance over others in the groups, and the catalyst of the shootout is well handled. All in all it’s a great blend of serious, playful and suspenseful.

Standout performances (in no particular order) come from Armie Hammer, Cillian Murphy, Michael Smiley and Sharlto Copley. That being said the rest of the leads are great but, of course, there isn’t a fair enough balance of witty dialogue and screen time distributed between them to make them all shine. However, some of the dialogue is great and expertly delivered by certain actors.

The costumes, haircuts and constant chain-smoking from some characters firmly cement this film into the 70’s, and to be fair some of the songs used in the soundtrack are well utilized. Now I don’t know if this will be a cult classic but it had the demeanour of a cult film. Whether this is intentional or not remains to be seen, but it has some elements of grindhouse cinema and a bit of OTT video nasty gore thrown in for good measure.

It’s entertaining enough but it kind of feels like a stop gap film for director/co-writer Ben Wheatley to get noticed in America. I firmly believe if he chooses to he will successfully make the transition to Hollywood, and hopefully be given creative freedom to create a sinister Marvel movie.

Free Fire is what you’d expect: a seemingly low budget film with a near perfect cast and some great humorous beats, but it’s not the sort of intense non-stop action film you may be expecting. Don’t get me wrong though as it is an entertaining film, but there is only so much you can do with the concept, and Wheatley and his crew have taken it to its limit without dragging it out.

Overall Verdict: A fun and often silly action movie with a great cast and some great dialogue, but it isn’t the explosive film some may be expecting. However it’s an enjoyable crime caper with an authentic 70’s feel that utilizes its concept well.

Reviewer: George Elcombe

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Armie Hammer, Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Sharlto Copley  DIRECTORS: Ben Wheatley  

Ben Wheatley & Tom Hiddleston May Reteam For Frank Miller’s Hard Boiled Adaptation

23rd November 2016 By Tim Isaac

high-rise-teaser-slideDirector Ben Wheatley’s High Rise got a mixed reception this year, but it was clear from interviews that he and star Tom Hiddleston enjoyed working together. Now they may be getting back together, as Deadline reports that Wheatley is planning an adaptation of Frank Miller’s 1990 graphic novel, Hard Boiled, which Hiddleston may star in.

Warner Brothers is backing the movie, which ‘focuses on insurance investigator Carl Seltz, who learns that he’s really a homicidal cyborg tax collector codenamed Nixon. A fellow robot informs him that he’s the last hope for their race to escape their programmed slavery.’ As this is Frank Miller, it’s even more nuts than that sounds, with multiple personalities, unusual characters and murky morality in play.

It’s not known when the movie might reach cinemas, and Hiddleston isn’t firmly attached yet, but it’s being developed as a star vehicle for him. Wheatley’s next film, Free Fire, is due in theatres early next year.

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Tom Hiddleston  DIRECTORS: Ben Wheatley  

Free Fire Trailer – Ben Wheatley returns with Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy and Armie Hammer

10th September 2016 By Tim Isaac

free-fire-slideBen Wheatley made a big splash with the low budget Kill List, Sightseers and A Field In England, before getting a bit more cash and a starrier cast for the recent High-Rise. Now he’s returning with Free Fire, starring Sharlto Copley, Armie Hammer, Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Jack Reynor, Babou Ceesay, Enzo Cilenti, Sam Riley, Michael Smiley and Noah Taylor.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘Justine (Brie Larson) has brokered a meeting in a deserted warehouse between two Irishmen (Cillian Murphy, Michael Smiley) and a gang led by Vernon (Sharlto Copley) and Ord (Armie Hammer) who are selling them a stash of guns. But when shots are fired in the handover, a heart stopping game of survival ensues.’

Take a look at the trailer below. Free Fire receives its World Premiere at Toronto International Film Festival on 9th September, its European Premiere at the London Film Festival on 16th October and opens nationwide across the UK on 31st March 2017. [Read more…]

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Sharlto Copley, Armie Hammer, Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Jack Reynor, Babou Ceesay, Enzo Cilenti, Sam Riley, Michael Smiley, Noah Taylor  DIRECTORS: Ben Wheatley  FILMS: Free Fire  

High Rise (Blu-ray Review)

17th July 2016 By Tim Isaac

high-rise-slideStarring: Tom Hiddleston, Sienna Miller, Jeremy Irons, Luke Evans, Elisabeth Moss
Directed By: Ben Wheatley
Running Time: 120 mins
BBFC Certificate: 15
UK Release Date: July 18th 2016 (UK)

Our Score

Director Ben Wheatley was certainly ambitious when he decided to take on JG Ballard’s cult, 1975 novel, High Rise. It’s one of those books that for decades many have proclaimed unfilmable, but there’s no doubt Wheatley and his cast and crew have put their all into it.

Set in a dystopian version of the 1970s (or at least a hyper-real 1970s), Dr. Laing (Tom Hiddleston) moves into a new, high-rise tower – supposedly the pinnacle of modernist living. His apartment is on one of the middle floors, while the poorer people live near the bottom, and the higher up you go, the richer and more rarefied the people become. [Read more…]

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Tom Hiddleston, Sienna Miller, Jeremy Irons, Luke Evans, Elisabeth Moss  DIRECTORS: Ben Wheatley  FILMS: High Rise  
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