Free Guy Review: Life's too short be a background character
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With Deadpool, Ryan Reynolds gave us a raunchy reimagining of what a superhero movie can look like, and now he's giving long-maligned video game movies new life with a Free Guy, an action-comedy full of bold fun, fan service, and a few flaws.
Reynolds is endearingly optimistic in the role of guy an oblivious NPC living in an inventive fictional video game. He was happy with his simple albeit regularly violent life in a free city before meeting Molotov girl played by Killing Eves star Jody Comer. To get the girl of his dreams guy snatches a pair of sunglasses that let him see the world as the players do, full of power-ups loot and missions. That makes for some fun call-outs to the world of video games with nods to super Mario brothers grand theft auto Fortnite and more.
Director sean levy consistently enthrals with the action in the foreground and then scores laugh by plopping random carnage in the background. There's a frequent contrast between calm and calamity that effectively establishes the wacky world of the free city while also being consistently hilarious.
Reynolds is a perfectly lucky leading man veering away from the snarky reputation he's built in recent years. In free guy, he drops all that edge to play a truly hopeless romantic.
Guy's openness about his unapologetic glee and fear as he becomes a player in free city is as exhilarating as Reynold enthusiasm is contagious. It's the zeal of Deadpool minus the baggage and r-rated shenanigans. It all works in no small part because of Reynolds undeniable screen presence and sharp comedic timing. Unfortunately, though this movie isn't acted to free guy opens up to split its focus between a guy and the creators of his game who were at war over coding copyright. Here's where free guy moves from fun to fun blin gun surprisingly watching programmers argue about lawsuits and troubleshooting isn't all that entertaining even if Taika is cast as their obnoxious adversary.
Free Guy delivers an outrageously entertaining first hour that is stuffed with gonzo action goofy gangster power big ideas and plenty of easter eggs for lovers of movies and video games. However, in its second half, the joyful journey is derailed by a slog of a sidequest in the real world. Falling short of the potential setup. Still, Reynolds delivers riotously rollicking fun in an eye-popping imaginative environment that treats gaming like the wonderland it is. So even with its deeply wonky detour free guy is a freewheeling wild ride with playful humour and some special moves.
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