“Free Guy” Trapped in a Game

 

 

 

Review by Ian Delia

Ryan Reynolds says it himself, see this movie in theaters. We’ve all been waiting for a film to be worthy of the big screen since the beginning of the pandemic closed down movie theaters. Well, it’s has been delivered. Free Guy, is an action-packed videogame movie where it’s a NPC (Non-Playable-Character) living within a virtual loop. It’s his life versus the gamers (characters played by the video game players).

Millie and Keys have been long time friends and co-creators of the game “Life Itself”, an open world game where your character is in a fantasy world where he can do whatever you’d like while the NPC characters adapt to the game as they journey through its quests. “Free City” is a revolutionary game which was buried in the archives of the hit game Life Itself. The very popular videogame has similarities to Grand Theft Auto which is an open world game where you can do whatever you’d like. Soonami Games; the company behind Free City, is a money scam company only looking for media streams and money all backed behind it’s CEO Antonie (Taika Waititi).

Guy (Ryan Reynolds), an NPC character, finds himself in the game “Free City”. It all started as what was thought to be an NPC, however, that flourished into the first artificial intelligence. Guy’s code was created by Millie“MolotovGirl” (Jodie Comer) and Keys (Joe Keery), two underrated videogame designers.

Guy begins showing signs of being more than an NPC andachieves big recognition in the real world and attracts high suspicion in the videogame design world. Guy then comesunder surveillance by Keys and his friend Mouser (Utkarsh Ambudkar). Since Guy is an NPC, he is blind to the system, killable, but able to respawn.

Deep down in Guy’s coding he longed to find the one to make him whole. When he spies Millie’s Avatar MolotovGirl, Guy knows he has found something special. This sparks what he needs to create his own mind rather than a computer on a constant cycle. Millie is on the search to take back what belonged to her and Keys however, the possibility of the first artificial intelligence ever created.

Free Guy is a very comical movie with plenty of famous YouTuber cameos which crated some laughter for me since I tend to follow a few of them on social media. The way the players use their characters in a funny and childish way,makes me think my generation will understand what I mean. Topping off the movie were the small parts played by Channing Tatum, Matty Cardarople, and Lil Rel Howery as their characters are bound to make you laugh.

Free Guy may not be appropriate for anyone under the MPAA recommended age. The film is rated PG-13 for strong fantasy violence throughout, language and crude/suggestive references. This is an opportune time to attend with some friends and enjoy being out of quarantine. I give Free Guy a rating of 4/5

Additional Film Information:
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Joe Keery, Utkarsh Ambudkar and Taika Waititi
Directed by: Shawn Levy
Genre: Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for strong fantasy violence throughout, language and crude/suggestive references
Running Time: 1 hr. 55. Min.
Opening Date: August 13, 2021
Distributed by: Twentieth Century Studios
Released in: Theaters