“Free Guy” Review

Ryan Reynolds stars in “Free Guy” as Guy, a Non-Player Character who finds out that he lives in a video game and uses his skills for the good of fellow NPCs.

Ryan Reynolds is one of those actors whose presence and inflection result in anything becoming funny. Even his work in bland 2000s romantic-comedies is somewhat tolerable thanks to his great work as a comedic actor and his role as the wise-cracking Deadpool in that character’s 2016 film and its 2018 sequel has cemented him as a box-office star. “Free Guy” is a wonderful film to showcase the talent of Ryan Reynolds by being wickedly funny, charming and clever in its satire of video games.

In the film, Guy (Ryan Reynolds) seems to have an average life in Free City: working in the bank, spending time with his best friend Buddy (Lil Rel Howery) and trying to be a nice guy in a town where people in sunglasses shoot, rob and exploit Guy and his friends. When Guy meets a strange woman in sunglasses (Jodie Comer) and gets his own pair, he realizes that he is a Non-Player Character in a video game and that the people in sunglasses are players in the real world. After learning this information, Guy decides to fight back against players by acting like a good guy and preventing robberies and shootings. When the game’s creator Antwan (Taika Watiti) sees Guy as a threat to the game and decides to shut it down, Guy and the people of Free City, along with a few players in the real world, join forces to save the game and find their own individual identities.

At the heart of the film is Reynolds who brings a naivete to the role of Guy that is as charming as it is funny. Seeing Guy evolve into a unique action hero with a blind optimism is captivating and Reynolds just when to use his talents as a comic actor and when to become a badass. The way Reynolds delivers his dialogue always manages to bring on the laughs even if the jokes aren’t that funny on paper.

While this kind of story has been handled before in films like “The Truman Show,” “The Matrix” and even “Sausage Party,” this is the first time I’ve seen this idea applied to the concept of a video game film. It’s actually a clever idea since the NPCs of video games have their actions predetermined by programmers and them becoming self-aware results in some interesting ideas regarding Artificial Intelligence which are mostly played up for laughs.

Taking in the creation of A.I. are real-world characters Millie (Comer) and Walter “Keys” McKey (Joe Keery) who are trying to prove that the ideas and actual code of Free City were stolen by Antwan and work with Guy from within the game to find proof of Antwan’s dirty dealings. While in the game, Millie and Keys’ avatars are also portrayed by them which results in a stronger connection between the gamers and their characters which is all the more funny when Guy begins to fall in love with Millie despite only being able to see Millie’s avatar. 

Jodi Comer (Left) and Joe Keery’s interactions with Guy are a highlight of the film.

While A.I. has existed many times in films like “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “The Terminator” and “Her,” this film brings up questions about whether A.I. can feel complex emotions like love and makes the answers the punchlines of jokes. “Free Guy” will definitely appeal to people of all ages, especially those that love multiplayer gaming, but the film’s humor certainly earns the PG-13 rating with a cynical edge. But it’s that edge that results in some pretty funny jokes that made this film far more impactful than other 2021 blockbusters like “F9,” “Snake Eyes” or “Space Jam: A New Legacy.”

Unlike ‘Ready Player One,” another great film about video games and the people who play them, the world of Free City is live-action instead of a computer generated location which means that the characters feel more real. If this film was like “Ready Player One” and had the characters look more like video game characters, a lot of the physical humor just wouldn’t work quite as well. 

After viewing “Free Guy,” it’s clear that director Shawn Levy understood that the world of video games could result in some fantastic action because that’s what “Free Guy” is full of. The film contains many car chases, shoot outs and hand-to-hand fights that are just as ridiculous as they are entertaining. 

“Free Guy” is a very welcomed film because, while not quite as impactful as other summer films like “In The Heights” or “The Suicide Squad,” it is incredibly refreshing by taking a familiar story and creating a unique narrative out of it. While the film certainly has a lot of ideas that could be broken down in a philosophical way in the years to come, “Free Guy” is much more focused on entertainment with some interesting things to think about in regards to free will, the evolution of intelligence and the relationships we have with technology as opposed to the relationships we have with each other. It’s a funny film that just might be more smart than we may initially give it credit for.