Video Games and the world they inhabit has been a fertile ground for inspiration for filmmakers, whether it was exploring the sort of reality that exists within video games or adapting actual games for the big screen. Free Guy makes an interesting twist on these sorts of films by taking a look at the reality of the non-playable characters in open world games such as Grand Theft Auto and similar games and specifically what would happen if one broke free from their programmed routines and not only started doing their own thing but discovered the true nature of their world.
Guy (played by Ryan Reynolds) lives a simple but monotonous life as a bank teller in Free City. The city is a place of chaos, including car chases and explosions which Guy has accepted as part of his daily life, unaware that all of this is part of a video game and takes it all in stride with a sunny optimism as he tells people not to have a good day but a great day. Even the bank robberies that occur several times a day are treated with a certain indifference that gives him a chance to catch up with his best friend, bank security guard Buddy (played by Lil Rel Howrey). One day, his path crosses with a player known as MolotovGirl (played by Jodie Comer) and immediately intrigued by her. He deviates from his original programming when he obtains a pair of sunglasses the players wear, revealing the true nature of the world he inhabits or the first time. Guy then goes after MolotovGirl, who initially thinks Guy is another player who hacked the game to appear as a Non-Playable character but soon realizes that Guy is indeed a NPC who has become self aware. In the real world MolotovGirl is actually Millie Rusk who, along with fellow programmer Walter "Keys" McKey (played by Joe Keery), created a game call Free Life that was designed to have it's non-player characters grow and evolve based on their interactions with the game players. She has been playing Free City to find proof that the head of Soonami Games, Antwan (played by Taika Waititi) stole their game and used it as the building blocks for Free City. As Guy continues to break free from his programming and evolve, Millie realizes he may be her best hope to retrieve the proof she needs from deep in the game. Although Keys, who still works for Soonami Games, discovers upon talking to Antwan that the impending release of the sequel, Free City 2, will not be backwards compatible and will overwrite the original game once it goes live in less than 48 hours, leaving a very small window for Millie, Keys and Guy to find and retrieve the original Free World code and prove Antwan stole their work.
The film was directed by Shawn Levy from a script by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn who have crafted one of the most purely entertaining films I have seen this year. They do a fantastic job creating the world these characters occupy as well as credibly establishing why this could happen within the story. At the same time, they fill the story with such warmth and optimism that amusingly contrasts with the chaos going on around the characters as part of the video game world they occupy. I loved the way they depicted the world, keeping everything in the game as live action and accentuated with the sort of graphics we would see in games, with hidden items like health points, or icons indicating players where to start their next mission only appearing when a Non-Player character puts on a pair of sunglasses. I also appreciated that Guy's sunglasses change throughout the movie, since he would have to get a new pair from a player character at the start of every day. Of course, when we are in the real world, we see the representation of the video game world from their perspective and only then does it show as CGI, with a credible representation of what that game world would look like to us. The story of the film itself, even though I could spot influences from everything from They Live to The Truman Show to Ready Player One still feels unique and fun in it's own right as well. I loved the way the story played out and kept me engaged throughout as not only the characters within the game grew and evolved but how the revelations within the game also informed the characters outside of it, especially Millie and Keys, which I thought was a clever touch.
The film has a fantastic cast, led by a very funny performance from Ryan Reynolds as Guy. He fills guy with this bright optimism that he manages to keep up throughout the film and even takes discovering his world is a video game remarkably in stride, all things considered. While the character is quite funny, this is not the usual wisecracking, sarcastic Ryan Reynolds character and is a bit of a stretch for him, which he handles quite well. Jodie Comer does well in her dual role of sorts as MolotovGirl within the Free City game as well as her real-world counterpart Millie. While there are certainly plenty of similarities between the two, MolotovGirl is a much more action oriented part, as would be expected for a video game character, and contrasts that nicely with her real world counterpart that is fighting to retrieve her and Keys' intellectual property. Lil Rel Howery is great as Buddy, matching Guy's sunny optimism throughout the film and he plays off Reynolds wonderfully, especially when Guy starts going off program. Joe Keery adds a certain charm to his role as the somewhat lost and lovelorn Keys, who unlike Millie is still working for Soonami Games despite them ripping off his and Millie's game. But the one who stole the show for me was definitely Taika Waititi as the villain Antwan. He was definitely a devious slimeball of a character but Waititi is so much fun in the role and having so much fun playing the eccentric character that he definitely became a character that I loved to hate.
Free Guy is easily one of the best times I've had in a theater this year. The movie is hilarious with sweet, self-aware humor while also being a surprisingly optimistic and wholesome film too. There is just a pure and infectious fun that runs through the film from beginning to end. The filmmakers and actors were clearly having a blast making this movie and that translates on the screen quite well. It's not a good movie...it's a great movie.
