“Free Guy” Film Review

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By Quinn Marcus

Okay look, after this film, my family spent 30mins in the car discussing the moral implications of killing AI capable of feeling human emotion. Now, I don’t know about you, but that’s not a sign of just another ridiculous, dumb video-game film, rather, something a little deeper than one might expect. I haven’t been the biggest fan of Shawn Levy’s filmography, don’t get me wrong, as a kid, the Night at the Museum films and Cheaper by the Dozen were all masterpieces, but they didn’t do as well as I became a teenager, I still consider them to be perfectly okay, passable family fluff, but none of them left lasting impacts on my journey through film, and are honestly kind of forgettable. However, as reviews began rolling in for his latest, Free Guy, a film that I had absolutely zero desire to see, I suddenly began to anticipate watching it, and I wasn’t disappointed in the slightest, rather, actually pretty surprised. I found myself gasping in awe during some of the action sequences, laughing hysterically at the marvelously written jokes, and appreciating the heart beating at the film’s core.

Free Guy tells the story of Guy, a video game character living in Free City, a world generated by its developers. Unaware that he doesn’t exist, he goes about his everyday routine as the players kill people, blow up stuff, and rob banks. However, when a certain player walks into his life, he decides he wants things to change, little does he know that not only will this decision make an impact on the gaming world, but the real world as well.

Okay, before you assume I thought it was a masterpiece, I’ll tell you upfront, it is flawed, but this is definitely one of those movies that I rate more out of enjoyment, my opinion will likely change in the future, but for now, I can’t help but express how much I adored Free Guy. The cast alone is absolutely stacked, Ryan Reynold’s is phenomenal as always, charming, likable, and really damn funny. Jodie Comer is fantastic as well, and so is Taika Waititi, Joe Keery, pretty much every name in the cast did a good job, I don’t have any issues there. Channing Tatum even makes an awesome cameo in the film as a game character. The visual effects are beyond astounding, there’s a certain scene with building’s collapsing in on themselves while a car is driving through the chaos, and it was just so badass, the CGI is some of the best I’ve seen in a video-game film, and I wouldn’t mind it receiving a nomination for it at the Oscars, plenty of scenes look incredible. The way in which Reynold’s video-game world was depicted was visually ambitious, but also extremely creative.

Thankfully though, the film isn’t all style over substance, in the end, there’s a complex narrative happening at the center of the film, two in fact, both of which I found equally as engaging. One set in the real world in which two coders are trying to take back a code this developer stole from them to make a game, and then the whole video-game part of the film. There are tons of jokes on each flip side of the movie, and every single one of them worked, I never cringed, or thought to myself ‘this isn’t funny.’ All of the jokes land, and so do the more emotional moments. Granted, there are a few dramatic scenes that were handled in a generic way that I kind of expected, especially at the very end, but overall, I cared for these characters, and what they wanted to accomplish. There is one shift that takes place later in the film involving a reboot of Free City that was a little tagged-on, and when solved, felt kind of pointless, but it only lasts for a few minutes. I was also a little worried during the first 10mins of the movie, mostly because everything I knew was going to happen in terms of comedy and story was happening, and I didn’t know I was going to find too much more out of the film, but it proved me wrong big time.

Throughout Free Guy, I saw hints of The Truman Show, Her, Ex Machina, The Lego Movie, and other similar films interlaced into this movie’s strangely philosophical concept. It asks the question: is creating AI possible, and if so, should we treat it as our equal, or something to eradicate. I never expected this when I saw the trailers, but weirdly, I found a lot more to ponder over than I thought I would. It studies its idea’s from both perspectives, the NPC character’s, and the actual human’s that created them, and while it could get messy and exhausting, it was all extremely interesting, and even sparked a conversation after the film, something I always love when walking out of a theater. If a movie, yes, even Free Guy can get you and your friends or family to spend time analyzing the plot, and talking about how much you loved it, it’s surely a win in my opinion, even if it wasn’t perfect. Guys, Free Guy isn’t the most subtle movie on the planet, it’s ideas are expressed in a somewhat up-front, in your face way, and all of the energy the film carries can wear you out, but overall, this film was a shockingly clever, emotionally satisfying visual rollercoaster that might be one of my favs of the year thus far.