Free Guy
Director: Shawn Levy
Screenwriters: Matt Lieberman, Zak Penn
Cinematographer: George Richmond
Production Companies: Berlanti Productions, 21 Laps Entertainment, Maximum Effort, Lit Entertainment Group, TSG Entertainment
Distributor: 20th Century Studios
Release Date: 13 August 2021
Runtime: 1 hour 55 minutes
MPA Rating: PG-13
Availability: Theaters
Synopsis
An NPC (non-playable video game character) takes on a life of its – or rather his – own in Free Guy. Guy (Ryan Reynolds) is an NPC bank teller in the world of Free City, a Grand Theft Auto-esque open-world video game developed by Soonami Games. His life is comprised of following a script: every day he dons the same attire, orders the same cup of coffee, goes to work at the same bank with his best friend Buddy (Lil Rel Howery), and never provides any resistance against the frequent robberies committed by playable characters. However, once Guy lays eyes on the woman of his dreams, Millie (Jodie Comer), he starts deviating from his programming and becoming his own person. When Guy’s deviation puts his world in peril, he, Millie, and a host of NPC and human allies must team up to protect Free City against Soonami’s comically jerkish CEO, Antoine (Taika Waititi).
Analysis
I enjoyed how authentic both Guy and the world of Free City felt. Although nearly all of Guy’s actions are programmed at first, Reynolds injects enough personality into his performance to give the audience someone to relate to. And as the movie progresses, his transition to a free agent is gradual rather than immediate; he becomes more confident, more adept at resolving solutions both peacefully and violently, and even inspires other NPCs to deviate over time. Thus, we the audience can more easily buy into this transition because the film explicitly shows all of the steps Guy takes to become … new Guy. As for the world of Free City, it’s refreshing to see a video game universe truly realized through a cinematic lens. The city's layout feels appropriate for a game like Saints Row: NPCs mill around with no assigned objectives, players are busy wreaking havoc on both the city and against each other, and the weapons and power-ups floating around are very similar to ones that exist in actual video games. Even details as minute as stores that fill in the background with signs reading “Don’t come in here” demonstrate that this world looks and functions like a video game. Additionally, the decision to show how Free City looks from both Guy’s and a human player’s perspective again shows great attention to detail.
The movie also has spectacular action, hysterical humor, and genuine heart. It takes full advantage of its video game setting to feature exhilarating and breathtaking action sequences. They consisted of everything from well-executed hand-to-hand fights to power-up fueled brawls and Inception-like chase scenes. This creative approach allows the film to present a heightened version of reality that never felt bland nor, given the setting, too unbelievable. In the humor department, I was frankly a little shocked by how funny and raunchy the film was. Reynolds’ signature comedic chops are on full display here, with the lines that felt straight out of Deadpool’s mouth earning a ton of laughs at my screening. Buddy’s mix of indignant and bubbly humor is also very effective. However, I felt that Antoine was a great scene-stealer. His morally depraved and ridiculous behavior had me laughing at almost everything he said and did. Levy clearly gave Waititi essentially free rein to do whatever he felt worked for his character, and the film was made the better for it. The film also has some powerful emotional beats, the most prominent example of which is the exploration of Guy’s relationship with Buddy. Not only do the characters’ dialogue and actions demonstrate how much they truly care for one another, but a surprisingly deep conversation between the two reflects how essential their friendship is to them. And by giving the film heart, I became much more emotionally invested.
All that being said, the film’s main pitfall is how many stories and ideas it tries to explore. For instance, while Millie’s and Guy’s goals are generally aligned, her motivation and goal don’t feel as compelling as Guy’s. The overinvestment in her arc occasionally overshadowed the movie’s core premise and tried to get me to care about her struggle for intellectual credit (albeit very well-deserved) as much as I cared about Guy’s struggle to continue existing. And while the film certainly brought up many exciting ideas surrounding AI, I felt like it didn’t know what message to home in on. For example, it tries using its premise to talk about the importance of relationships. While this is a nice sentiment and provides a great deal of heart to the story, it doesn’t feel like an appropriate fit for the premise. The film can also be interpreted as a call to action for people to become their own active agents. I may agree with this message, but it’s pretty generic and has been expressed in many films before (Ratatouille, The Lego Movie, and Soul, to name a few). [***SPOILER WARNING***] Also, the fact that Buddy’s programming is still largely responsible for how he acts once he becomes self-aware both undercuts his progression and undermines the same message!
Conclusion
In conclusion, Free Guy makes for an enjoyable time at the theater. Its videogame protagonist and world feel authentic, and the plot is made all the more engaging through great action, humor, and heart. The film may lack some focus on what it’s trying to say, but it’s an excellent feel-good movie at its core. Plus, given how rare legitimately good videogame movies are to come by (Jumanji franchise notwithstanding), this is certainly one that you should press START for.