Film: Free Guy

GENRE: Action, Comedy
RATING: PG-13 for fantasy violence and language
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 55 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatre
STARRING: Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool, The Proposal, Van Wilder)
Jodie Comer (Killing Eve); Joe Keery (Stranger Things)
DIRECTOR: Shawn Levy (Date Night, Night at the Museum)
WRITERS: Matt Lieberman (Christmas Chronicles; Scoob!);
Zak Penn (Ready Player One, The Avengers, X-Men 2)
PLOT: A non-playing character in a video game wants more including meeting a particular female hero.    

FULL DISCLOSURE: Reynold’s work in the trailer alone pulled me in.

STORY STUFF: That was so much fun. What a fantastic concept that is played out perfectly. Instead of going edgier like The Truman Show, Free Guy amps up the energy and fun instead. I find it funny that Zak Penn also wrote Ready Player One; maybe he learned from all the mistakes in that film. This film is far superior to Spielberg’s ode to video games and their avatars.  I was on board the entire movie. I also love what the film had to say about trying new things and copyright infringement. My only slight complaints involved an oblivious female character and a second kiss that contradicted itself. I will also warn you that there is some video game lingo that might confuse the ‘average’ viewer. Other than that, wall to wall awesomeness.

ACTING STUFF: Reynolds kills it as Guy; his gleeful innocence and wonder makes this film so enjoyable. Comer get to play a great character with lots of layers instead of just a love interest. It was great to see Keery out of his eighties duds and rocking this role of a coder. Taika Waititi is also quite fun as the villain; he is so over-the-top he can get with anything on the screen. It was nice to see Alex Trebek play himself in a quick Jeopardy segment. There is also a surprising super fun one-line cameo that got the theatre roaring with laughter. Also, kudos on getting a bunch of famous real-life streamers to do Twitch-like commentary. Brilliant casting all around.

ARTISTIC STUFF: The music choices are top notch. There are some great tunes that contrast the violence on the screen. The special effects are colourful and vibrant. There are so many Easter eggs in the background that you should probably watch it again to catch them all. I’m sure if I played more video games I would enjoy those eggs all the more. It’s also just fun watching Reynold’s Guy ignoring all the destruction happening all around him. So much creativity and fun.     

VERDICT: Five stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You want to have fun watching a film.
UPCOMING REVIEW: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings