Free Guy

 

Score:  B+

Directed by Shawn Levy

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Taika Waititi, Lil Rel Howery

Running time: 115 minutes

Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Free Guy dives into the gaming world that has increasingly come to dominate our own, but sends it up in an entertaining way.  Ryan Reynolds is fun as cheerful victim Blue Shirt Guy (although his ego shows through, too, to me) and beyond the usual technical wizardry is a nice positive change of tone from the usual.  Go see it for a fun time at the theater.

Guy (Reynolds) is an NPC, or Non-Playable Character, in the open-world video game Free City.  While human players' characters interact with Guy (usually violently), his daily routine consists of an ordinary, programmed "life" from bank teller to coffee addict.  But Guy deviates from his coding one day when he sees a character named Molotov Girl and seeks her out, though he's not sure why.  Molotov Girl (Comer), played by a young woman named Millie, is searching for something herself: evidence of a crime that she's sure Free City's creator has committed.  As Guy and Millie meet and learn from each other, they realize that the other is essential to their own mission; but they must act quickly, as Free City's boss (Waititi) is on the hunt.

Free Guy is one of the most fun films of the summer, unapologetically projecting a positive, sunny attitude where the genre can get bogged down in cynicism.  While its premise - the main character as a video game NPC, or essentially a manakin - is a bit nerdy, it's one that's pretty easy to catch on to for a general audience.  And that NPC is played by one of today's biggest movie stars, Ryan Reynolds, who has burnished his reputation for silliness and irreverence in Deadpool among others.  He is certainly likable here, hiding his sarcastic side for a mostly earnest, naive mode.  I must admit that, personally, the role started to grate on me, particularly as Guy becomes more aware and "heroic".  Reynolds' purpose for the role seemed to become showing off as the Cool Guy, ironically heightened by his supposedly making every effort not to seem cool (or at least seem ego free).  Your mileage may vary.

Fan or not of Reynolds, it's hard not to get sucked in to the vivid video game world created in the film.  Despite the fact that human players wreak havoc on its peaceful denizens, there's still a playfulness about it and at any rate the violence is soon backgrounded after it serves its purpose early on.  As with many movies with neat premises, Free Guy starts strong, but it also maintains momentum significantly better than others thanks to a plot that is different enough to keep it interesting while not getting lost in the technical weeds.  The non-Reynolds characters are a bit of a mixed bag, but overall are a source of strength (and help dilute the star's ego trip).  I haven't seen Jodie Comer in much (if anything) before, so I was startled and impressed by her sheer expressivity; her video game avatar Molotov Girl is completely different than her real Millie self, and it's not just the wig; MG herself changes noticeably but subtly after a major event.  Lil Rel Howery, a great comic actor, unfortunately chooses to simply imitate Kevin Hart here, but Taika Waititi is the real comic scene-stealer here as the bad guy boss.

Along with creating a fun world, Free Guy features some good commentary as well; it's not exactly subtle (nothing in this movie is) but it's also not preachy.  Primarily, it pointedly asks why we play video games, shows how we can get sucked into them, and even a bit of the rebound effect back on our real lives.  My favorite part involved Molotov Girl listing the differences between the video game world and the real world before coming to gun violence and stopping short with an "oh, wait...".  Free Guy is either indebted to or at least eerily similar to some recent films; a mashup of The Matrix, Ready Player One, and even The LEGO Movie would be a good description.  But it's good-natured enough to brush those comparisons aside, at least for a few hours of fun.

***

Free Guy pulled me to the theater with its new(ish) premise, very good Rotten Tomato score (82%), and, yes, even my confidence that Ryan Reynolds would be entertaining in the role.  Despite my feelings that Reynolds veered too far into Cool Guy posturing mode, he is admittedly fun much of the time and the movie around him is strong; Jodie Comer was a revelation for me, too.  I think I'm ready for a bit of variety at the movies now - although I'm always up for anything Marvel, like its upcoming Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings - but it's been a very solid summer so far.  In fact, better in quality than most recent years.  I definitely recommend Free Guy if you want to see a good action comedy.

* By IMP Awards / 2021 Movie Poster Gallery / Free Guy Poster (#5 of 12), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68188487