Luke McWilliams gives his review of the 2021 action comedy film, Free Guy, starring Ryan Reynolds.
In the online open-world videogame Free City, Guy (Ryan Reynolds) is a non-playable character who goes about his routine life as a bank security guard. One day, Guy is distracted by a programmer’s Avatar as Molotov Girl, causing him to go against his programming and pick up a pair of glasses that reveal to him he is inside a videogame.
1999’s The Matrix is a masterpiece that blended Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey with the zeitgeist of anxiety felt with the new millennium looming. As an action thriller, The Matrix asked audiences to wake up and question their reality. Free Guy does the same thing, albeit in the wrappings of a comedy; Reynolds’ affable but slightly unhinged Guy slowly awakens to his surroundings as the ‘chosen one’ with all the helpings of modern-day CGI. Guy is essentially immortal, taking a lot of punishment as he levels up through the game counter to his programming.
In the real world, programmers Millie (Jodie Comer) and Walter (Joe Keery) strive to find their original game code within Free City to prove their intellectual property stolen, and perverted by, corporate head Antwan (Taika Waititi). Antwan has altered Free City for his own capitalistic gain, so the pair must strive to save their labour of love.
Verdict: A very fun look at life through the lens of a videogame with more than enough ‘Easter eggs’ for gamer fans. 3 stars.
Free Guy is now available on Disney+.
- Luke McWilliams | themovieclub.net
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