In Free Guy, Ryan Reynolds is a bank teller who discovers Free Guy is an ‘original’ blockbuster in this world of prequels, sequels, remakes and spin offs – with an actual original film being a dime a dozen these days. The film is also directed by Shaun Levy, who is best known for directing The Night At The Museum movies. While an entertaining ride, Free Guy doesn’t quite escape in a positive light.
★★★✰✰
Reynolds plays Guy, a non-playable character (NPC) in the video game Free City. He goes about his day wearing the same clothes, ordering the same coffee, and working in the same bank, living in an open-world game where the players can cause chaos, destruction and have fun at the same time. This all changes when he meets Millie (Jodie Comer), who is a high-level player on their own mission to uncover a secret hidden within Free City.
On the one hand, the everyman charm and deadpan wit of Reynolds is always going to win people over and make the film at least enjoyable. On the other hand however, this is a video game movie, and the reputation they have is frightful to say the least. Free Guy isn’t based on any one video game in particular, instead, it borrows a lot from successful games such as Grand Theft Auto, Fortnite, and many more while framing it around a heart-warming story. Rather than mocking video game culture, it fully embraces it.
There is plenty of action on show (a lot of it weightless because of the 12A rating), but it remains entertaining enough and effectively shot. One sequence involving Guy and Millie facing off against goons in a guarded base is a particular highlight, showing off the slick fight choreography of Reynolds and Comer. The comedy works well, and Reynolds is naturally adept enough to get a laugh out of most situations. The same goes for Comer, who gets a few good one-liners.
The segments set outside of the game are largely to give doses of exposition and really don’t add a great deal to the film. Mainly set within the game design company, the scenes jar when we’re transported back to the real world, and never seem as exciting or interesting. You learn of the relationship between Keys and Millie, which are made likeable by Comer and Joe Keery’s dynamic. However, the scenes with Antwon (Taika Waititi) and Mouser (Utkarsh Ambudkar) don’t work effectively, coming off as expository or just cringey in the case of Antwon.
Reynolds remains as likeable as ever, with plenty of charm to spare, although the humour of Guy is so similar to the actor’s own that it can feel slightly jarring. Comer excels here in her first big screen role switching accents with ease just like she does on Killing Eve, and brings a lot of power to her performance. In terms of supporting characters, Keery gives a very likeable performance. Watiti manages to go overboard on the dickhead boss cliches that it sometimes leaves the audience in silence when there should have been a laugh. The character of Buddy, who is Guy’s best friend in the film, is played well by Lil Rel Howery, who does as much as he can with limited material.
Towards the end, the film relies too much on various IP from the Disney catalogue for laughs. This really downgrades the film, because up until then Free Guy feels blissfully original. The fan service here slightly soours the ending, going against the angle that the film heavily promoted in its marketing. What is even more disappointing is that there has been a sequel announced in recent days, which now renders Free Guy yet another franchise piece in the Disney Infinity gauntlet.
The Verdict
An enjoyable time at the cinema, if nothing else. Free Guy will entertain you for two hours but won’t do a great deal more than that. Despite one or two moments of genuine heart, the film focuses on entertaining first and gets carried away with itself during the conclusion.
Words by Brett Herlingshaw
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