Free Fire

You see, the key to making a good movie requires a certain number of crucial aspects that put it all together. There's also a certain type of content that is entertaining, but doesn't automatically mean you have a great movie on your hands. Now, if you put that content with those aspects and do it right, you get a good film, one that's memorable and will give you awards and acclaim for years. You have one of those things but not the other and you end up with a good time on the first watch, but you aren't really wowed by it. Have neither of those things...and well, it's obvious. 

Free Fire falls in that middle category.

It's not that this movie is bad, it's not, it's actually kind of good, but I wouldn't really say it's memorable. In fact the most memorable aspect is the fact that the whole movie is a 2 and a half hour gunfight with no real resolution (except for one, but it's a spoiler). But it lacks a huge amount of substance, there's no real depth and it just doesn't feel like there's much at stake here. Some characters are likable, some are even lovable, but ask me next week and I doubt I could tell you the names of a single one, and frankly most of them were quite stupid and annoying.

The ingredients for Free Fire are quite good. You've got all star casting choices like Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, and Armie Hammer, three actors I ADORE. There's even a few that I'm unknown to that surprised me. The direction by Ben Wheatley is decent, and there's a nice 70s aesthetic there. But you can still make an underwhelming burger from great quality ingredients, and honestly Free Fire seems like a Big Mac right about now.

I may sound harsh but I just didn't feel very much from this movie, and it's a shame, because I wanted to love it. And I did like it, it's just that it left a bad taste in my mouth. With a much better director and some better characterization and more substance this could have easily been my favorite movie of the year. But it doesn't...and it doesn't get that honor, unfortunately.

I think I'll give Free Fire a 6.7 out of 10 for its efforts. It tries hard, and gets most of the credit, but it lacks the details that could have made it an easy classic. Maybe next time, right?

Probably not.