Free Guy (2021 | USA | 105 minutes | Shawn Levy)
If someone told me a year ago that a long-delayed movie with Ryan Reynolds as a non-player character (NPC) in a videogame would also grapple with the downright exploitative nature of the videogame industry, I would have said they were out of their mind. Yet Free Guy may just be bold enough to pull that off, albeit with a light touch and an abundance of cheesiness.
The story is that Guy (Reynolds) is a man going through the banal routine of his life as a bank teller. His friend Buddy (Lil Rel Howery) is his sole companion and the two bond amidst the mundanity of their lives as well as their on-the-nose names. The twist is that they are actually living in an open world video game where they are constantly robbed and just expected to be background characters in the adventures of the people actually playing the game. Both Guy and Buddy remain unaware of this as they simply believe that this is their life. The repeated robberies are shocking to see, though both friends just take it in stride as part of their daily routines where they don’t know any better. All their lives ever will be is that. They are trapped in a cycle that, at least for Guy, soon begins to grow old and tiresome to go through on repeat.
That is until Guy recognizes a character on the street who is known as Molotov Girl. Behind the character is game designer Millie (Jodie Comer). She is operating undercover as a player on a mission to determine whether the world of the game is actually a theft of her own designs. Millie is looking for proof and seems to have isolated herself in the real world in order to get it, often playing alone in a coffee shop without anyone around. She does have the occasional assistance of Keys (Joe Keery) who has resigned himself to work for the company under the controlling eye of the megalomaniacal boss Antoine (Taika Waititi). More on him later.
All of this is unknown to Guy who just sees Molotov Girl, who looks identical to Millie herself, and begins to question his reality. She gives him a reason to abandon the role that has been set in place for him in order to get to know her. That is where a lot of the aforementioned cheesiness comes in as the film is also a love story where Guy is so taken by Millie that it opens up his whole world. He begins to take his life into his own hands and become an active participant in the game. He soon gains a following and attention that will put him directly at odds with Antoine who is hoping to launch a new version of the game, even if it means wiping out the growing consciousness of those living within it. It sounds high stakes, but is mostly cloaked in a silly sensibility. There are still some goofy action sequences, though even these are fleeting.
Beneath that silly sensibility, which feels reminiscent of a throwback film in terms of tone and its broad strokes, there is also a more modern edge to it. Yes, it includes cutaways to an endless rogues’ gallery of Twitch streamers and throws around gamer jargon from the early-2000s like Noob around without irony. However, that is not what makes it all feel shockingly refreshing. Rather, Free Guy looks at how the game is designed and what it relies upon. Antoine is not just a bad boss, he serves a stand-in for all the bosses of video game companies that rely on exploiting and taking advantage of those who toil underneath them.
It was that central theme which stuck with me the most. Obviously, it still is first and foremost a comedy about finding your way in life. However, it ends up being less about the wacky hijinks of Mr. Reynolds (though there is still plenty of that) as it is about a controlling video game exec who frequently takes people’s ideas without credit and doesn’t treat his employees all that well. By no means is it an incisive critique of what is a pretty broken industry, defined by crunch and poor treatment of workers, though it really felt like it was grasping at something a bit more substantive underneath it all. Although Waititi doesn’t really get to sink his teeth into the role there is still more going on in the background that was hard to shake. It felt more thoughtful than a film like this had any business being, though it was admirable to see it tackle deeper ideas.
The rest of the film is just alright, a fun romp with hit-or-miss sentimentality. When not in the midst of an action sequence, the visuals are surprisingly flat with little to draw you into the frame. It is a film that wears its humor on its sleeve, though some of the references and cameos soon become a closed loop, never really going anywhere beyond the initial moment of recognition. Ultimately, it is a competently-made film that doesn’t always hit all the right marks, though it is hard to be mad at it with Reynolds operating with his typical degree of snark.
Despite an abundance of the moments that are downright cringey, Free Guy is a movie that manages to be both moderately enjoyable, engaging, and never boring. It most certainly isn’t going to stand out in your mind save for a few clever gags and bits, though those parts are worth praising. Even if it’s not a breakout hit, after the long delays, it is good to see it come out even when it occasionally falls flat.
Free Guy is in theaters starting August 13.