THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Have you ever wondered what would Fortnite would look like as a movie? You get Free Guy.
PLOT
The film follows Guy, a non playable character from the online video game 'Free City'. He is programmed as a bank teller and is friends with the bank's security guard Buddy. One day, he falls for a female player credited as 'Molotov Girl' and chooses to pursue her. So he steals a pair of sunglasses from a Bank Robber Player (Dwayne Johnson), hoping to find her. When he wears them, he sees the head up display designed for a player, still unaware that he is in a video game. He is mistaken as a player by two employees from Soonami Games, Mouser and Walter 'Keys' McKey, the latter that is a co developer to Free City. When they play to find him, they kill him off at least once, but are unable to ban him. Keys want to keep looking into this, but Mouser suggests him not to inform the CEO Antwan about it, because he is focused on launching the game's sequel. Originally, he co created another game called ‘Life Itself' with Molotov Girl herself, Millie Rusk. When Antwan bought that game from him, he stole its source code and used it for Free City, claiming it to be his own idea. Millie has been playing the game, in hopes to find proof of what he did, which would help her case in a lawsuit against him. She recently found a clue at a stash house, but Guy unintentionally messes up her first attempt when he finds her. Since she mistakes him as a player too, she suggests him to level up to at least level 100 if he wants to help her. He ends up leveling up to 103 after doing many missions. His actions as a good guy make him a worldwide sensation, whereas now everyone thinks he is a player and dubs him 'Blue Shirt Guy'. After another attempt at breaking into the stash house, Millie and Keys realize that he really is an NPC and his self awareness originates from their AI codes for 'Life Itself'. Antwan does take notice of Guy's popularity and decides to keep him around, which inspires to make an updated version of him for 'Free City 2', after already planning to abandon original plans for the new game. Millie does choose to tell Guy his predicament, which disappoints him to the point of not wanting to help her. After having a pep talk with Buddy, he gains newfound motivation in life. He is able to go to the stash house and when encountering Keith, whose avatar is 'Revenjamin Buttons', he is given the source code. As Guy's popularity in Free City threatens launch of the sequel, Antwan decides to reboot him, after Keys refused to do it. When Millie finds him without his prior memories, she has Molotov Girl kiss him, which helps him remember all of his memories before he ever met her. He shares a location of an island that is part of Life Itself, further proof of the code. The two protagonists encourage Buddy and all the other NPCs to go on strike. As Guy and Millie try to reach the island, Mouser tries to kill them both but Keys subverts him and live streams the game. When Antwan fires him, he sends in an unfinished copy of Guy named 'Dude' to stop him. Guy is able to overpower him by putting the sunglasses on him. The distraction gives the protagonist another chance to cross through, in which Buddy joins him this time. Antwan decides to destroy the server on his own with an axe, resulting in Buddy to disappear. He then fires Mouser when he objects to help him. However, Guy is able to reach the island before the final server could be destroyed. Millie offers Antwan a deal that she'll drop the lawsuit if he returns the codes to her and Keys. Because of agreeing to do so, Free City 2 fails with their sales, resulting in him being ousted from Soonami. After this, Keys & Millie use their code to make a new game with Mouser called 'Free Life', which results in making a success of their newfound company. Millie and Keys end up forming a relationship when the latter admits that Guy was designed as a love letter to her. The film ends with Guy reuniting with Buddy, who reveals to survive the deletion.
THOUGHTS
This was one of many films I had interest in to see in 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything. I got to see the film in the second half of 2021 and I gotta say that this was worth the wait. Director Shawn Levy and co writers Zak Penn & Matt Lieberman were able to make a film that was so clever that each joke hit their mark, which is always hard to do in this era for the genre. I don’t think I’m ever gonna stop laughing to either John Krasinski as the Silhouette Gamer or even Chris Evans reacting to Guy using the Captain America shield. Since this was mostly meant for those who play video games, we were given such pleasing visual effects that made it even more immersive than one would ever imagine, bringing the feeling that we are in the game. Speaking of Cap’s shield, it was a crazy set of Easter eggs where Guy even used a Mega Man cannon, a Hulk hand, a lightsaber, a portal gun from Portal and a Rainbow Smash pickaxe from Fortnite. There was even a fair amount of authenticity when having actual gamers like Lazerbeam cameo in the film throughout. What I really liked about this film was how it had a heartwarming message that will never get old to share: There is something special in all of us and doesn't matter where we come from because only you can show your worth and live in the moment, because worrying doesn't make things better. You feel this deeply through our main character who easily steals our hearts. As Guy, Ryan Reynolds made him so lovable for embracing his innocence and enthusiasm. He is someone who loved his world and became determined to make a difference. And seeing him encourage the other NPCs to be themselves can be inspiring. So when they all live in their free will in Free Life, you can't help but be happy for them. Reynolds definitely caught me off guard playing his polar opposite that was Dude, who was simply a mindless version of him. He straight up creeped me out at first glance when he says 'Catchphrase'. Although Reynolds is the center of attention, everyone else makes their mark as well. Guy obviously wouldn't be possible without the mind of Keys. Joe Keery portrays him as a reluctant figure, unsure if he can do the right thing when he had so much to lose. However, it was his love for Millie that finally motivated him to do so. It seems that he loved her in the first place because he admired her intelligence and determination. And making Guy as a love letter to her is a neat and original thing I respect. Speaking of which, Jodie Comer was very good in a somewhat dynamic performance. She shows Millie as someone who refused to be screwed over and channels her inner badass through the avatar of Molotov Girl. Truthfully speaking, if it wasn't for her, there would be no Guy. Lil Rel Howery was downright delightful in playing Buddy. The positivity he has throughout is insane and it makes you love him even more. He may have been scared of change due to feeling so secure, but it didn't stop him from being a good friend. Utkarsh Ambudkar definitely made Mouser a complex character, which makes it a good performance. He wants to be a good friend to Keys, but cares about his job too much and desires to impress Antwan. Thankfully, he does come to his sense when realizing that his boss was in the wrong. The dynamic of Matty Cardapole & Channing Tatum was another moment that got me dying of laughter. They both brought something special in their perspectives of Keith. Matty expresses the immaturity, while Tatum does his best to make his avatar look cool. PS Tina Fey voicing his mom vacuuming in the background dials it up on the hilarity. Last but not least, Taika Waititi was on point being the obnoxious villain that was Antwan. It didn't surprise me how he pulled it off because he acted like it if Hitler was in charge of a video game company. And that is enough to hate him. The funniest moment he gave was failing to do a kip up. This movie was pretty dope, but even one as such has a fair share of flaws. First off, why does Guy have a morning routine if no one is gonna see it? I get that each character needs a personality from something like this, but there still is no point if players aren't gonna see it. Am I the only one confused of how the Masked Player in the Alley (Hugh Jackman) gives videos to Millie and not understand their use, as in pre watching them? If this guy wants to be helpful, he should've looked it over. I also didn't understand why Buddy thinks that players don't talk to them when there are cutscenes. You're telling me that doesn't count? I won't believe you if you say so. I was even tripped out seeing the barista Millie was at close in what looked like mid afternoon. I know we need to set up the character to exposit the main story, but it is so distracting for me to figure out what kind of barista closes that early. There is one continuity error that tripped me out big time. There is one gamer's room, where an XBOX 360 copy of Dark Souls is next to the girl's laptop. I know gamers like to play older video games, but it would be more appealing to the times if there was an XBOX One game. I do think it is interesting to see Keys and Mouser look for Guy as they play the game. But since they don't know yet he is an NPC, why exactly do they think that is easier than booting him by searching the server? And since they still don't know, shouldn't they worry of him re spawning? They should be more on top of this if they don't want to cause a stir in the company's pot. If I have questions about Free City, I gotta ask; Why is Guy allowed to keep the sunglasses he stole after being re spawned? If they are a different set and he took it from another player, I would like to know if that's the case. It makes sense for the NPCs to stay on course but since Guy & Buddy go to the beach, how have they not skipped rocks before until Guy was just told of his original purpose? Had they done it at least once, this revelation would've been much more insane. And why is Buddy only programmed to drop the gun and not how to use it or at least hold it? If they wanted to spark creativity for this game, Buddy should've had those abilities to make a bank robbery more intense. I was kinda annoyed of how Millie has a portal gun and doesn't use it immediately to get inside the stash house. Had she done that, she would've found what she needed with little difficulty. I was kinda confused of how Keys didn't hear Millie acknowledge Guy until midway into the stash house sequence. If his headphones are broken, that is another thing that should be clear. I was even tripped out seeing how all the NPCs came for Guy's meeting because I feel like the game could've rebooted again if Antwan noticed. Hell, all of the gamers noticed so why didn't that happen? I'm not trying to say I want it to, but I'm aiming for realism here. And since they did reboot, how did the NPCs remember Guy's fame? That makes no damn sense. And why would Keys help inside the building, rather than at home? If he was home, it would take a while for Antwan to stop him. And if he wanted to keep tabs on his enemy, he would hack the cameras to figure out what they're doing next. Also, why didn't Antwan take his laptop? Had he taken it, Mouser likely could've undone what he did to help. Other than that, I still find a way to enjoy myself whenever checking this out. To wrap up, Free Guy is an excellent comedy for being full of heart, which is something we needed at the time of its release. You want something to make you smile all day? Watch this movie.
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