Free Guy – Film Review

When a bank teller named Guy (Ryan Reynolds) discovers he’s actually a background player in an open-world video game, he decides to become the hero of his own story — one that he can rewrite himself. In a world where there are no limits, he’s determined to save the day his way before it’s too late, and maybe find a little romance with the coder who conceived him, named Millie (Jodie Comer).

Few movies get delayed as much as Shawn Levy‘s Free Guy did. The film was originally supposed to see its debut in theatres in July of 2020, but of course, the COVID-19 pandemic was at its worst then and so they had to change the release date to later in the year. The problem, though, was that it was delayed several times, never releasing on its new date, causing many to question whether or not we would ever see the action-comedy.

Gratefully, this past weekend, Free Guy finally saw the light of day and it was surprisingly… well.. amazing. This took me by complete surprise because I had seen the trailers for the film and thought it looked kind of average. Sure, it’s always fun to see Ryan Reynolds deliver a witty and charmingly funny performance in anything he does, but some portions of the marketing material had me a little iffy.

Thankfully those fears were squashed within the first ten minutes of the movie alone. Free Guy is a hilarious, nostalgic, ultra-entertaining action flick filled to the brim with outstanding cameo appearances and a surprisingly big heart that carries through all the way to the final moments.

It’s also wonderfully self-aware and pokes fun at some video game tropes, and does a way better job at this than Ready Player One, which this movie clearly takes inspiration from. Interestingly enough, one of the screenwriters on this film, Zak Penn, co-wrote that movie and it seems that he has perfected his work here because all of the video game and pop culture tie-ins are fantastic.

There are some moments in this movie that are seriously tailor-made for nerds and geeks alike, with one sequence in the third act causing my entire theatre to erupt with cheers and laughter. Free Guy is the definition of a crowd-pleasing movie and I view that as a really good thing. If you can make an entire theatre laugh, cheer, and hold back from crying all within one movie, you certainly did something right. The team behind this movie truly made something special and a film that I won’t forget anytime soon.

Courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Some sequences become in danger of going on for too long and occasionally, it seems as though the humor will be stale by the time the scene is over, but thanks to witty scriptwriting and absolutely outstanding performances, that rarely happens.

Ryan Reynolds was the perfect choice to portray the titular Guy. Perfectly embodying the innocence, badassery, and wit that this character needs, it’s no wonder why Reynolds was the choice to play Guy and it’s no wonder why the star was so excited for this movie to finally be released.

But equally amazing here is Jodie Comer who is definitely the heart and soul of this movie. Her character Millie / Molotov Girl sort of has feelings for Guy and when I say that, you probably expect the film to incorporate some incredibly cheesy romance that feels forced or unnecessary, but thankfully, Free Guy manages to find some genuinely clever and unexpected ways to traverse their relationship.

Comer is a relatively smaller actress at the moment, having her first real major role in the hit television program Killing Eve, but after the success of Free Guy and her amazing performance in it, don’t be surprised if you start to see her name popping up a lot more frequently.

And it would be a sin to not mention Taika Waititi in the role of Antwan, who had me holding my sides trying not to be in pain from laughing so hard. Not only does he get the best and most outrageously funny lines in the film, but his delivery and overall demeanor will make you smile all the way to the end of every scene he’s in.

You’d think that a movie this gigantic in size and scale wouldn’t have too many emotional sequences in it, but you’d be wrong. Free Guy actually has a few moments that had me having to hold back tears which is genuinely something I didn’t expect to happen before going in. The movie takes you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions while also throwing a plethora of visual and CGI craziness at you, but it never becomes too much to handle.

This is exactly the kind of movie that I’m so happy to have been able to see in a theatre with a crowd of people. Free Guy would’ve been a great film to watch at home for sure, but there’s just something so incredibly special about seeing such a zany, heartfelt, and hilarious film like this one in a theatre. It feels like a return to form for movie theatres and a reminder of how great it is to bask in a movie like this with a bunch of people.