Free Guy Review

When I first heard about Free Guy, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. The premise seemed fun, but video game movies have had a spotty track record, to put it mildly. The fact that Ryan Reynolds was behind it gave me hope that it could be enjoyable and that I wouldn’t be disappointed. Free Guy brings a fresh new perspective and takes viewers through the mind of a character who should realistically be mindless but starts to realize that his world may not be all it seems.

Story

Free Guy follows an NPC (Non-Playable Character), “Guy,” played by Ryan Reynolds, who starts to become sentient as his curiosity about the violent world around him makes him question his reality. Guy is an incredibly optimistic character who is content with his simple life in Free City, waking up at the same time every morning, getting the same coffee, and working as a teller, saying the same thing to every customer: “Don’t have a good day, have a great day!” He’s even completely fine with his bank being robbed every day. Everything starts to change when Guy meets a girl with the username “Molotov Girl” (Jodie Comer) and begins to fall for her. He becomes curious about these people with the sunglasses and why their lives are so much more exciting than his, and becomes enamored with Molotov Girl. Guy snatches a pair of these sunglasses from one of the player characters and finally sees the world as the other players do, with power-ups, missions, and loot scattered everywhere.

Guy starts to level up his character by performing good deeds, such as foiling bank robberies, taking down gunmen, and even helping Molotov Girl track someone down. It never stopped being amusing to me when Guy would be having an everyday conversation while walking down the street, only to have a tank roll over cars behind him or something blow up in the background. He’d be utterly oblivious to everything around him with a big smile on his face. There was always much to pay attention to besides the main conversation or plot point on the screen. It establishes that the game world of Free City is crazy and dangerous while still serving as comedic relief.

Guy

Reynolds shed much of his snarky reputation for this movie to play a more pure and honest character. Guy doesn’t have an edge. He’s an open, honest, endlessly optimistic character that is hard not to root for. You want to see this character succeed because it is almost childlike, innocent, and curious. As Guy becomes a player in Free City, he’s enthusiastic about everything he’s doing, whether out of fear or excitement. Whenever that character was in a scene, I couldn’t contain my laughter because of how Reynolds would deliver his lines. He would be amazed at his new fighting skills as he started leveling up in Free City, and then, in another scene, he’d be gushing about bubblegum ice cream. The wonder that his character experienced was endlessly entertaining to follow along with.

Second Half Struggles

The second half of the movie is where things fell a bit flat for me. This is where Free Guy opens up the story to discuss how the creators of this game are sparring over code copyright. It’s an excellent way to tie everything together, but this is where the movie becomes a lot more serious than it needs to be. Taika Waititi is cast as the overbearing adversary, but I felt anyone could have been cast in his role because it lacked much substance. He wasn’t given much material to work with and becomes forgettable when the credits roll. Joe Keery is serviceable enough in his role, but I wondered why he wasn’t a more prominent piece of the story, considering how much of a connection he had to the game. Jodie Comer performed well. She was similar to Guy in many ways, but a bit more abrasive. She added a lot to the story. The movie had a romantic aspect, but I didn’t feel it was handled very well. This is possibly because the second half felt rushed. It may also have been because the movie straddles the line between being a comedy and trying to be serious in the second half.

Fan Service

A slew of references in Free Guy were enjoyable to spot. I’m sure this movie would be fun to watch again, allowing me to be more attentive to what else is happening in the background. There are also cameos from some prominent Hollywood names and individuals in the gaming community. The movie included a lot of fan service, and I appreciated the little details they added here and there.

Final Thoughts

Free Guy was a fun movie that I’d watch again. It has some plot holes, and the story ultimately fell flat for me. Even so, it didn’t detract too much from the experience. It’s an entertaining film that explores an idea we haven’t seen before. That’s not something we see often these days with endless sequels, spinoffs, and reboots.