Directed by Ben Wheatley 

Starring: Brie Larson, Armie Hammer, Cillian Murphy, Sharlto Copley

This is without a doubt the best film I've seen so far this year. It came as a surprise too, I had no idea Ben Wheatley had a new film coming out, with executive producer Martin Scorsese to boot. However, the power of Facebook advertising came to my aid, and I've finally been able to see this hilarious, smart and desirable shoot 'em up comedy.

So to summarise the film's plot, we find ourselves in 1978 Boston, where Chris (Murphy) Justine (Larson) and a rag tag team of thugs meet in an abounded warehouse in preparation to purchase a whole lot of rifles from Vernon (Copley) and his buddies. Things quickly go stale, and the arms deal turns south into a plethora of bullets, screaming, and a lot of cussing.

What Wheatley really does here that is pulled off excellently is the drawing out of a Tarantino-esque shootout into about an hour or so. From the trailers, it may look fast paced, but in the film the shoutout is slow and tense, in which we see the banter between the characters and their efforts to get the case of money in the middle of the battlefield. Along with this we are welcomed with some superb 70's costumes (reminiscent of The Nice Guys) and some great tunes from the era. Wheatley really nails the gangster style shootout with these elements and puts everything into one nice mix. Even the gun sound effects and ricochets sound very comical, and there is nothing wrong with that all. It works so well with the film's tone.

The humour is incredibly good. It takes a similar approach as Shane Black does with his comedy, with a little bit of Mel Brookes and Edgar Wright in there too. The director kings of comedy in my opinion, and Wheatley does right to earn a place with them. Copley's Vernon is the funniest, being the big bad in this case but also being an absolute idiot is hilarious, and everytime he was on screen I was gleaming. Even when you're with Chris or Justine, you can hear Vernon or another character quipping in the background. It's a very witty sense of humour that blends well, and everyone gets a turn to be amusing, and they pass with flying colours... other than Hammer, who was too serious for my liking and didn't provide any smart jokes or, when he did, didn't always land. I have to give a shoutout to Jack Reynor, an actor I really didn't like at first until I saw his performance as Harry. He's the next best to Copley, and he's wonderful. Overall, I have to compliment the characters and their dialogue in this. It feels like the rubbish I'd spurt with my friends.

The set is marvellous, probably one of the best I've ever seen. Wheatley built the idea for the set on Minecraft which is very unique way of doing things, and it's quite a genius way - there is a lot of detail in the set and a lot of the elements within play well into editing of the film which is so good you miss it too much, it's too good that you're not noticing any errors in it. This is very strong for a film with this much quick paced transitioning of shots.

One thing that sticks to mind however, is that we don't learn anything about these characters really. We get some ideas at first, but through the film there is little development, we just learn what they're like. And I think that's great. I love character development but for a film like this, it's not needed, and it works better this way. There is barely a plot and I think, if the film was anything other than what it is, it would be a big issue. But it's not like that. That's what makes this film magical.

In short, Free Fire is another one of Wheatley's whimsical, smart films that pokes fun at a lot of other films but mainly at itself, and is done seamlessly. Great characters, great comedy, and a great style. If you're to see any film these next coming weeks, make sure it's this one.

The Good

+ Spot on comedy.

+ An array of different, enjoyable characters.

+ Superb styling and tone.

+ A great mix of set, editing and dialogue.

The Bad

- Hammer isn't all that of a thrilling character.

9/10