Free Guy (2021) – A mash-up that works

Okay, so take ‘The Truman Show,’ sprinkle in some ‘Groundhog Day,’ then add a bit of ‘Ready Player One’ and ‘The Matrix.’ Finally, stick Ryan Reynold’s face on it and let him go to work with his charmingly laid back kind of humour and you have ‘Free Guy’ – a film that probably shouldn’t work quite as well as it does.

Maybe I’m overthinking it, but I’d almost like to see the film done differently.  Normally, I would say that admitting that Ryan Reynolds’ character (‘Guy’) is an ‘NPC’ (or ‘non playable character’) in a state of the art open-world video game may be classed as a ‘spoiler.’ However, I think I can get away with mentioning that because the film pretty much tells you this within a few minutes, plus this point was heavily emphasised in the marketing.

But, like I say, I kind of wish they’d have kept it more of a secret for longer.  I think there would have been mileage in letting Guy wander around this crazy world while we – the audience – wonder just what the hell is going on.  I guess if the film-makers did this then the movie would probably have been a ten part series on Netflix.

Instead, it’s all thrown at us pretty quickly as to what’s going on.  Guy is one of the millions of NPCs who are there just to make the game zone (or ‘Free City’) appear like a real world to the players in the game.  Yet, one day he develops a consciousness and therefore a desire to be more than just cannon fodder for trigger happy teens all over the world.

I suppose what elevates this to more than many similar stories is it’s the first (to my knowledge) to use a computer game world to let someone come ‘alive’ in (okay, so ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ was kind of in the same ball park, but that was more of a kids’ movie). ‘Free Guy’ spreads itself over so many genres it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is.  I guess you could also call it a sci-fi, comedy, love story, but it’s the overriding sense of social satire that anyone who has a relatively good knowledge of videogames will appreciate. 

And did I mention it has Ryan Reynolds in it?  He’s almost always worth the price of a cinema ticket so fans of his will get what they came for, not to mention general film buffs and pop culture enthusiasts who can enjoy the many references to other IPs (yes, ‘Deadpool’ is obviously in there).

Overall, I think most people who have, or know about, open world computer games should enjoy this one.  Although, I have a weird image of sitting my mum down to watch this and having almost every joke and reference fly over her head, leaving her with a nonplussed look on her face.  Guess it’s probably for the ‘gamer generation’ primarily.

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one