Free Guy Review – Free Guy is not a good movie, it’s a great movie! Artificial intelligence, real heart.
Life is not something that just has to happen to you and Free Guy is the film that aims to prove that. Ryan Reynolds stars as Guy, a non-playable character (NPC) in the game Free City. Every day, Guy follows the same routine, sees the same people, says the same things, until he sees the woman of his dreams, a sunglasses person named Moltovgirl. Moltovgirl is a playable character in Free City and goes by Millie in the real world, both are portrayed by Jodie Comer. In the real world, Comer is the co-creator of a game that she believes was used to create Free City and is playing the game in order to find the evidence she needs for her lawsuit. After seeing Moltovgirl, Guy breaks free from his coded routine and becomes something far more than his programming bringing life to artificial intelligence.
Free Guy is a thoroughly uplifting film that is silly and hilarious in the best way imaginable. It fully leans into gaming as a medium and culture that equally respects and pokes fun at it. A particularly poignant feature of the film is the dual identities of gamers/streamers from their in-game characters. Numerous gamers/streamers are revealed to be a stark contrast to their in-game characters to hilarious and dramatic effects. Then there is office gaming workplace culture, which though slightly exaggerated, is uncannily accurate. Gaming companies often revolve around the large egos of a single person. In Free Guy, that is Soonami Studios’s CEO Antwan, portrayed by Taika Waititi. Waititi masterfully chews the scenery as the greedy, evil, but brilliant mogul. He plays up the arrogance and callous to hilarious yet bitingly cruel degrees that his leadership, though maybe not ideal, seems absolutely plausible. His place at the head of the company makes sense and needs no justification which contributes to him being a great villain and antagonist. Where the film truly elevates its take is in-game culture, but that will be covered towards the end of this Free Guy review.
Waititi is thoroughly fun and sure to be relentlessly quoted and memed villain which requires a polarizing opposite protagonist to match, and Guy is that. Reynold’s Guy is an endearingly innocent, hopeful, and genuine character that the audience cannot help but root for. Audiences follow Guy’s journey from a routine following NPC to a fully realized sentient artificial intelligence being who learns about what truly matters. Reynold’s snark, wit, and comedic delivery are dialed to a 10 and rides the line of potentially being too much. But it is in full service and benefit to the film. The height of the verbal jokes comes in the form of Guy describing flavor. It is surprisingly vulgar, yet apt in a comedically beautiful kind of way.
Contrasting Guy’s innocence is Millie/Moltovgirl who is jaded after having her creation bastardized into a cash grab, on top of dealing with the numerous aspects of toxicity in gaming. Though a bit jaded, she is still a hero and a more than worthy match to Reynold’s Guy. Comer has some of the best action sequences and jokes in the film. The duality of playing Moltovgirl and Millie allows her to play two multiple facets of the character. In-game as Millie, she gets to play the straight character of the double ace to Guy’s ridiculous, but then as Millie, she gets to play the ridiculous to the straight Keys, played by Joe Keery. Keys plays a neutral character in the good of Guy and Millie versus Antwan. Keys was Millie’s co-creator on the suspected stolen game used to create Free City, and now works for Antwan at Soonami as a debugger. Keys does not believe their game was used and attempts to remain a neutral party until evidence and circumstances force him to choose a side. Keery does a great job of playing a devout neutral character that is progressively turned by evidence. It is a subtle performance that likely will not garnish much attention compared to the outlandish acts that happen in-game with Millie and Guy and the massively enacted personality of Atwan.
There are three other notable performances, though considerably smaller roles. Utkarsh Ambudkar as Mouser provides a grounding presence at Soonami that helps reflect the absurd situation of what is going on in-game and in the office. Ambudkar also delivers my personal favorite joke in the film which happens in the Soonami breakroom. Lil Rel Howery as Guy’s best friend Buddy is a truly delightful and heartwarming presence. Buddy acts as an anchor point to the NPCs’s naivete and reflects not only how much Guy develops, but also why his values are so strong. Howery does a magical job of portraying the power of remaining steadfast in meaningful morality and values. Not to say his character does not develop, but Howery embodies Buddy’s development as a choice not a reaction to circumstance. Then, without spoiling who it is, but he’s essentially the first character you see in the film and he is awesome and hilarious. There are few things funnier than a master of an art form using their mastery for jokes. Without giving too much away, this actor is a master of dance and will dance his way into the audience’s funny bone.
Director Shawn Levy brings together an incredible cast and what has to be a love and passion for games to tell a surprisingly deep and philosophical story. Levy uses the extreme and incredible aspects of gaming, particularly violence and explosions, as support to drive his points. Aside from the comedy and awesome action, that is not shot with shaky cam, Levy uses the film’s world to reflect and ponder on life. The NPCs’ routine lives are easily found being lived by people in real life. NPCs and people are indistinguishable. The way people treat NPCs in-game is, sadly, just mild exaggerations of how people treat each other in reality. How NPCs react to another NPC breaking the code, is not unlike how people react if someone acts different, minus maybe the inclusion of a tank. Free Guy and Free City, might be better considered as a snapshot of the world rather than a reflection. But as dour as it may seem, Guy is the embodiment and inspiration for more, and for fulfillment. Life doesn’t have to be something that just happens. It is a very light touch, but it does have a heavy impact and I believe audiences will walk away with a truly positive feeling and some new ideas about life. At the very least, gamers might have an afterthought after obliterating an NPC.
Lastly, I want to take a personal stance in my Free Guy review and say that Free Guy is the beautiful potential of corporate synergy realized. I will not give specifics, and I also can not confirm any related events contributed to the moments. But Free Guy has a moment that highlights the merger of two huge corporations in an absolutely meta moment that highlights the beautiful potential of this megacorporation owning the rights to so much content. It is also evident in the music used in a romantic scene. You will hear a tune that is inseparable from romance, if you’ve watched the short film you will instantly recognize the song. It heightens the impact of the scene dramatically. It will likely work without knowing the song and short, as it is a lovely melody, but it is a wonderful easter egg and testament to corporate synergy. Though lawsuits and questionable policies in the current news cycles are the definite dark side of such corporate powers.
Free Guy is a fantastic, funny, and philosophical film that the whole family will enjoy. It is easily one of the best gaming movies, without being about any one single game. Shawn Levy brilliantly uses the wild and drastic elements of gaming to tell a fun and poignant tale about the value of living. Reynolds and Waititi embody polarizing opposites who are constantly finding the comedy in their side of the morality spectrum. And Jodie Comer certifies herself as an action-comedy superstar. Free Guy is the feel-good movie of the year. It may be about artificial intelligence, but the heart is real. For the comedy, the action, the heart, my Free Guy review gets a 4.5/5
Free Guy releases in theaters August 13, 2021, with a special Opening Night Fan Event on August 12, 2021, at the El Capitan Theatre
Free Guy Review
TLDR
Free Guy is a fantastic, funny, and philosophical film that the whole family will enjoy. It is easily one of the best gaming movies, without being about any one single game. Shawn Levy brilliantly uses the wild and drastic elements of gaming to tell a fun and poignant tale about the value of living. Reynolds and Waititi embody polarizing opposites who are constantly finding the comedy in their side of the morality spectrum. And Jodie Comer certifies herself as an action-comedy superstar. Free Guy is the feel-good movie of the year. It may be about artificial intelligence, but the heart is real.