Free Fire (Ben Wheatley, 2016) • Page 2

Has anyone watched this yet?

 

I really liked it. After the first thirty minutes it's basically an exercise in style, but it's a gorgeous exercise.

 

This was a lot of fun. I've yet to LOVE a movie of Ben Wheatley's, but I'm always excited to see what he does.

 

Yeah it's a blast, at times it feels like a messy hail of bullets just barely missing but every time I thought the formula was growing tired something major/interesting would happen to shake things up. A+ sense of humor throughout too. He may never reach the heights of Kill List and Field in England but it was nice to see him clearly having so much fun after how bloated High Rise was (a film I appreciated more than I enjoyed)

 

That's an interesting take to hear. I don't think he's ever made a film that I would call more than good. I think they all have problems and eventually he will distill his style into a truly great film, but not yet.

 

I mean A Field in England is so indulgent but I'm just a sucker for that sort of exercise in style - a dreamy hallucinogenic hell (maybe even in the literal sense?) that I found it quite easy to get lost in but understand all the criticisms it gets

That being said, I think Kill List is a masterpiece and probably the best horror movie of the 2000s. The way it essentially tackles a different genre in each act (and nails each one) from the family drama to the hitman/revenge tale and culminating in breathless terror, a lot of symbolism and foreshadowing that revealed itself self to me on repeat watches (maybe the keen eye catches it all on first go but I was too caught up to be analytical) and the final scene is just soul-crushing.

 

Kill List is the only film I think is incredible. Sightseers is quite good too. High Rise is cool but becomes a bit of a slog. I pretty much hated A Field in England. The more I think about this film the less I like it too.

 

Glad I'm not alone on that one, still have to watch Sightseers