The decade following the release of Quentin Tarantino's two-punch of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction saw many independent filmmakers clamouring to try and recreate the magic of those crime movies, which catapulted the one-time video store clerk to directorial super stardom. Stripped of his ear for witty dialogue and everything else that made them stand out, most of these imitations simply consisted of bad men pointing guns at each other whilst talking pop culture. This craze has since died down, but based on Ben Wheatley's latest venture Free Fire, there are those still longing to recreate the magic of those 90's classics. Free Fire is the cinematic equivalent of pillaging your toy box as a child and have the most colourful figures shoot it out with one another for the flimsiest of reasons. However, this isn't entirely a bad thing.
In 1970's Boston, a bunch of mean-looking men and one woman meet at an abandoned warehouse to finalise an arms deal. IRA members Chris (Cillian Murphy) and Frank (Wheatley regular Michael Smiley) meet with intermediary Justine (Brie Larson), and eventually with charming connect Ord (Armie Hammer looking very comfortable rocking a 70's beard). Arms dealer Vernon (Sharlto Copley) has some bad news in that he doesn't have the guns ordered, but the Irishmen push ahead for the deal anyway. A rocky introduction seems to be heading towards peaceful resolution, until Vernon's associate Harry (a hairy and bespectacled Jack Reynor) recognises junkie Stevo (Sam Riley) - one of Chris and Frank's gang - from a violent confrontation the night before. Negotiations quickly escalate into a stand-off between both parties, and a huge shoot-out ensues. With a briefcase full of money and a truck load of guns there for the taking, everyone's motivation and loyalty is quickly under scrutiny.
After tackling the lofty concept of socioeconomic commentary in messy misfire High Rise, Wheatley has fallen back on a simplistic and indulgent crowd-pleaser. With many an object to hide behind in the expansive warehouse setting, the witty dialogue of the opening thirty minutes becomes a cycle of leg-and-shoulder wounds and ricocheting bullets. It's a rather childish concept, but it manages to entertain by refusing to take itself seriously. Fracturing loyalties and double-crosses play second fiddle to guessing who will die next and just how they will meet their doom, backed by an impressive line-up of character actors. Outside of a couple of gruesome deaths, the script by Wheatley and long-time writing partner Amy Jump offers few surprises. Perhaps the couple needed to recuperate after their ambitious but ultimately disappointing attempt to bring High-Rise to the big screen. Whatever the reasoning for tackling a project so knowingly lacking in scale and originality, I enjoyed it, and hopefully now it's out of their system they will be capable of delivering a film as masterful as their jewel in the crown, Kill List.
Despite his questionable religious beliefs, cringe-worthy talk show appearances, and all-round general creepiness, one cannot deny the raw star power of Tom Cruise, even a shocking 28 years since his breakthrough in Top Gun (1986). Here, he brings charm to an instantly dislikeable character - a cowardly, smarmy PR major who hasn't seen a second of combat in a world battling invading alien forces. His performance - possibly one of the best in his long career - shows his true range as his character goes through a highly convincing arc from pathetic rookie to fully-fledged action hero. It's easy to forget that Cruise is a highly accomplished actor, and there is no-one better out there to spear-head a blockbuster.
As humanity prepares for a surprise attack on an alien force called Mimics who have devastated many of the large cities on Earth, General Brigham (Brendan Gleeson) orders public affairs officer Major William Cage (Cruise) to cover the combat from the front lines during the assault. Objecting that his life will be placed in danger, Cage is arrested, labelled as a deserter, and wakes up handcuffed in the hands of Master Sergeant Farrell (Bill Paxton), a Southern drill instructor with a strange sense of humour. Cage is suited and booted with hi-tech armour and dropped into the battle, which turns out to be a disaster for the humans and they are overrun by the Mimics, who decimate their forces. Cage manages to kill a rare large Mimic, and is killed in return when the Mimic's acid-like blood dissolves his face.
He then wakes up handcuffed, and again meets Master Sergeant Farrell, who appears to have never met him. The day plays out like it did before, and once again Cage is dropped into the battlefield only to be killed again, this time surviving a little longer. It's on the battlefield that he meets famous soldier Rita 'Full Metal Bitch' Vrataski (Emily Blunt), who seems to recognise his ability to anticipate events and tells him to seek her out, before they are both killed again. Cage tracks her down on the base, and Rita informs him that he is stuck in a time-loop, something she experienced after a previous battle with the Mimics but has since lost due to a blood transfusion. The two start to work together, with Cage training to survive a little bit more every time he dies.
Adapted from the Japanese light novel All You Need is Kill (a title the film adopted before it changed to the generic Edge of Tomorrow - something that may have been the cause for it's underwhelming box-office performance), the film clearly takes inspiration from video games. Every time your character dies, it starts again from the beginning of the level or checkpoint, where you can use your experience to gain the skill required to complete the level. While this can be frustrating and monotonous when bashing a game controller, Edge of Tomorrow doesn't linger on the repetitiveness of Cage's day, and instead moves the story along to the point where you don't even know how many times Cage has lived the same day.
Each time, Cage learns to duck here, fire there, take a different route; and director Doug Liman revels in killing off his hero in a variety of ways to an often comedic effect. The first two-thirds of the movie are delightfully entertaining, with the Mimics proving to be inventive creations, resembling giant, tentacled tumbleweeds, and the movie wisely choosing not to get bogged down in time-loop mumbo-jumbo. Emily Blunt, one of the most charismatic and beautiful actresses working at the moment, is excellent, portraying a female lead who, for once, isn't there simply for the male hero to rescue and fall in love with, but is the key to any hopes of success. Which is all the more disappointing when the movie begins to bow to convention during the final third, as Vrataski starts to fall for our vertically-challenged protagonist.
As with most recent blockbusters, Edge of Tomorrow also struggles at the climax. The inventiveness of the Groundhog Day approach (I almost made it through the entire review without mentioning the Bill Murray classic) makes way for a familiar, simplistic climax and a roll-your-eyes bittersweet final scene, It's sad, because this could have been one of the best blockbusters in the past couple of years; a twist on the usual crash-bang-wallop alien invasion flick. It does, however, offer plenty of great action, bolstered by a fine sense of humour, and proves that Tom Cruise can still convincingly anchor a big-budget action movie, even at the ripe old age of 52.
Whilst watching Richard Ayoade playing uber-nerd Moss in the hit-and-miss sitcom The IT Crowd, or playing TV producer and actor Dean Lerner in the criminally underrated Garth Merenghi's Darkplace, the last thing I pictured him doing was confidently directing a feature-length film. I don't mean to knock him, as I've always felt he was an extremely talented comedy performer and writer, and he brightens up whatever he appears in, no matter how crap the material. But here he has focused all his ambition, influences and talent into creating a truly memorable debut.
Submarine tells the story of 15 year-old Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts), a strange, intelligent and unnervingly confident schoolboy who falls for an equally strange girl Jordana (Yasmin Paige). After an incident which sees Oliver reluctantly participate in a spot of casual bullying that causes a girl to fall into a muddy pond, Oliver and Jordana begin their unusual romance. All seems to be going well until Oliver suspects his mother Jill (Sally Hawkins) of having an affair with cheesy self-help guru Graham (Paddy Considine), who lives next door. His father Lloyd (Noah Taylor) is so passive and uncaring that he is practically a zombie, and so Oliver takes it upon himself to rescue his parent's broken marriage whilst holding his own fragile relationship together.
The film arrives amidst critical praise and festival word-of-mouth, and the promise of a real future talent in director Richard Ayoade. I'm pleased to announce that the film is every bit as good as I've heard. I had my doubts, concerned with the film's 'quirky indie comedy' tag that films are so lazily lumbered with these days. But while the film is quirky, indie and a comedy, it finds its influences lying elsewhere - from the greatest of all film movements, the French New Wave. From the start this is clear with the Godard-esque large lettering with strong colours for the opening credits and title cards. Everything about the film screams New Wave, from its stylistic boldness, self-awareness, and even the unconventionally handsome and turtle-neck-wearing leading man.
One of the main strengths of the film is it's awareness of slipping into cliche. The quirkiness and magic of the French New Wave have been copied and ripped-off so often that nowadays when it is used it can come across as pretentious. But Oliver's intelligence and amusing voice-over frequently touches on this. At the start of his relationship with Jordana, they spend their days on the beach and frequenting industrial wastelands, and Oliver comments that he will put these moments in his 'Super 8 memories', cue shots of the couple running and laughing on the beach, shot in that grainy, home-video look. He also fantasises that he is in a film, and that the film will end up with him searching for Jordana on a beach and how it will end in an arty-farty, pretentious manner aimed to enourage discussion among chin-strokers. It's a great little trick and you have to admire the film's refreshing self-assurance.
The film is also very, very funny, with Craig Roberts proving an extremely talented comedy performer, all pale-skinned, wide-eyed awkwardness, and a pronounced, high pitched voice that almost resembles many of Ayoade's TV characters. The humour is often similar in style to Wes Anderson's (dare I say it?) indie comedies, which are some of the best comedies, if not films, to come out in the last fifteen years. Most of the humour stems from Oliver's increasing desperation to lose his virginity to Jordana, especially in one scene where they find themselves home alone, only for Oliver to light candles around his bed, and lie open-legged on his side in a cheesy pose. Jordana, with her eyes closed waiting for the surprise, opens them and deadpans 'fuckin' hell, you're a serial killer.'
A real gem, and a film that definitely introduces the potentially massive talent of director Richard Ayoade, star Craig Roberts, and Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner, who performs the wonderful music. And also a rare opportunity to see some of the beautiful sights of Swansea, where I currently reside.
In 1970's Boston, a bunch of mean-looking men and one woman meet at an abandoned warehouse to finalise an arms deal. IRA members Chris (Cillian Murphy) and Frank (Wheatley regular Michael Smiley) meet with intermediary Justine (Brie Larson), and eventually with charming connect Ord (Armie Hammer looking very comfortable rocking a 70's beard). Arms dealer Vernon (Sharlto Copley) has some bad news in that he doesn't have the guns ordered, but the Irishmen push ahead for the deal anyway. A rocky introduction seems to be heading towards peaceful resolution, until Vernon's associate Harry (a hairy and bespectacled Jack Reynor) recognises junkie Stevo (Sam Riley) - one of Chris and Frank's gang - from a violent confrontation the night before. Negotiations quickly escalate into a stand-off between both parties, and a huge shoot-out ensues. With a briefcase full of money and a truck load of guns there for the taking, everyone's motivation and loyalty is quickly under scrutiny.
