“Free Guy” is a comial love letter to video games and feels like it was a passion project for the entire team.
Starring Ryan Reynolds as Guy, “Free Guy” gives viewers a look into the life of a non-playable character (NPC) as he discovers he is actually a background player in the fictional open-world video game, “Free City.”
Director Shawn Levy takes an interesting spin on video game tropes and trends, and the movie is filled with a ton of pop culture references.
“Free Guy” is a comical representation of video games, but stays true to how they work for the most part. The movie even includes a few famous YouTubers and Twitch streamers, who helped promote the movie to their audiences when it was released in 2020.
“Free City” feels very reminiscent of Rockstar’s immensely popular “Grand Theft Auto” series, but includes references to tons of other games throughout the movie.
Reynolds performance as Guy is spot-on, with perfect line delivery and capturing the sense of blatant ignorance to the world around him. Guy is the embodiment of “ignorance is bliss.” At no point until meeting Jodie Comer’s Molotov Girl, the player character for Millie, does he question anything about the life around him.
In the “real world,” Comer was joined by Joe Keery, playing the conflicted coder named Keys, working for a mega-corporation under Antwan, played by Taika Waititi.
In the world of Free City, Guy’s best friend Buddy is played by Lil Rel Howery. They work together at a bank that is constantly being robbed by players.
All of the cast’s performances are on-point, with perfect comedic timing and a nice mix of action thrown in for the in-game scenes.
“Free Guy” is a great time all around, with good jokes and fun action sequences.