We here at Nerdist abhor violence.
Unless it involves Nerf guns.
Then we not only support it, we are willing and eager to sanction it. Which is why at this year’s South by Southwest we asked Armie Hammer and Sharlto Copley to give our audience a real live taste of what they can expect from their new film, Free Fire, with a mano-e-mano Nerf gun duel.
The two actors, along with the film’s director Ben Wheatley, sat down with our own Dan Casey earlier this month at Austin’s SXSW to discuss the movie, which we described in our review as a “bloody, violent, darkly comedic tale of an arms deal gone awry.” But we figured, why only talk about the film when we can have a fun, exciting–and most importantly foam safe–recreation of its gun-toting action?
We won’t give away the result of this epic-ish battle, so you’ll have to watch it yourself to see if Armie dropped the hammer (nailed it), or if Copley turned out to be a sharlt-eyed shot (oh god we are so sorry). But we will say you should be very, very wary of accepting a gun fight under “South African” rules.
For those of you that were unable to visit us at SXSW, or for anyone who might still be unfamiliar with Free Fire, you can watch Dan’s entire interview with Hammer, Copley, and Wheatley right here.
We’ve been excited for Free Fire ever since we first saw the trailer for it last September, and it’s not exactly hard to understand why. It’s a throwback to classic midnight movies (it even takes place in the 70s), set inside a warehouse where two Boston gangs have been trapped following a failed arms deal. If you are worried it might not be violent enough for such a premise, don’t worry:Â Martin Scorsese is an executive producer on the movie.
Plus, besides Hammer and Copley, the cast also includes Academy Award winner and soon-to-be Captain Marvel Brie Larson, as well as one of our other favorites, Cillian Murphy. Fittingly for a movie about guns, this cast is loaded.
And even if we didn’t know any of that, the awesome retro-style poster for the movie from Mondo, that we were able to bring to you exclusively, would have had us ready to get locked and loaded to see it. It might not show off any of the film’s great cast, but it does feature the main star of the movie.
Image: Mondo/Jay Shaw
Look at the size of that gun. See? We didn’t just willy nilly ask these guys to have a Nerf gun duel. We had a very good reason for doing so.
Not that we really need one when it comes to Nerf gun fights.
Free Fire hits theaters on April 21st.
What other classic movies does Free Fire remind you of? And what other actors should we ask to duel with Nerf guns? Fire off your best ideas in our comments section below.
