With an original video-game world that cleverly draws on several inspirations, Free Guy avoids the pitfalls of many of its predecessors, focusing on the real world over the virtual.
Video-game movies are challenging as they try to capture the freedom of the player’s actions alongside the expansive landscape of a fantasy world – a mix that often ends badly when squashed into a cinematic lens and limited runtime. Silent Hill, The Super Mario Brothers Movie and Assassin’s Creed are all examples of how trying to fit a video-game world into a film-shaped hole can end horribly. After all, in making a film based on a game, you are trying to capture the story and the feeling of the gameplay – a feeling individually felt but never easily described. Fortunately, Shawn Levy’s Free Guy doesn’t try to emulate any specific world, and as a result, it frees itself from the curse of the video-game adaptation.
Bank-teller Guy’s (Ryan Reynolds) world is deliberately nondescript but clearly draws inspiration from many games; in fact, his character feels closest to the online component of Grand Theft Auto. As Guy walks the streets, planes and automobiles detonate while bandits armed to the teeth cruise through downtown in what seems to be a non-stop chaotic cacophony.
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This captures the spirit of playing in a multiplayer lobby, where more often than not, players aren’t just conducting missions or squading up; they are creating madness en masse. Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn’s script reflects genuine video-game speak, with talks of collision meshes and reflection errors amongst our game developers, Millie and Keys (Joe Keery and Jodie Comer). The result is a feeling of genuine gameplay, as opposed to the random technobabble so commonly used. However, there are still some hangovers of older video-game speak; after all, no one calls anyone a ‘noob’ or a ‘rookie’ anymore, but, to be fair, the scriptwriters couldn’t use even 10% of the insults floating around a modern multiplayer lobby.
What’s most surprising about Free Guy is its unexpectedly misleading marketing, mainly due to the COVID pandemic. Over the last few months, we have been treated to a slew of trailers and promos, leaving many feeling they had already seen everything Shawn Levy had to offer. However, much like the film’s central mystery, the narrative arc was hidden throughout, with the focus on Millie’s lawsuit against Soonami Studios, headed by its villainous capitalist CEO, Antwan (Taika Waititi), feeling genuinely on the pulse. Antwan’s buy-and-shelve strategies feel ironic, especially given Disney’s recent history.
Free Guy’s notably anti-corporate themes – championing the individual indie-developer over the giant conglomerate also ring true of scandals like CDProjekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 and Disney’s lawsuit with ScarJo. However, the anti-corporate sentiment also blends with a delicate philosophical edge that comes from Guy’s introspective epiphany of his existence, as he understands himself to be a simulacrum, yet paradoxically feels just as alive as Millie or Keys.
While some have hailed Free Guy as a modern Truman Show, it often feels more like a blend of Stranger Than Fiction-meets-Frankenstein. The entity is forced to come to terms with its conscious existence alongside its creator, realising that this higher power partly predetermines every move and decision. The result could have seen Free Guy become frightfully melancholic if it had taken a different direction, Guy spiralling into a manic depression or hyper-insanity from the pointlessness of his existence. However, it is also easy to see why this Reynolds outing has been compared to Jim Carrey.
Reynolds may not be as comically versatile as Carey. Still, he does carry an ironically upbeat, slightly deranged All-American guy image, not unlike Jim Carrey’s physically malleable, hyper-energetic powerhouse. And while Carrey’s public image has dramatically shifted over the years, it feels as though Reynolds has filled the Carrey-like mould. Of course, just as with Carey, some may grow tired of the Reynolds schtick. But it’s undeniable that Reynolds brings a passionate energy to his work.
As a result, Ryan is Ryan in Free Guy, his character, exactly how you would expect him to be. However, unsurprisingly, it’s Jodie Comer who provides the stand-out performance. Comer carries the film as she battles giant conglomerates and her emotional connection to Guy and Keys, conveying Millie’s desperation to pursue the truth with a rich honesty that invites you to root for her. Comer truly is an outstanding actor, and Free Guy benefits greatly from her presence.
With an original video-game world that cleverly draws on several inspirations, Free Guy avoids the pitfalls of many of its predecessors, focusing on the real world over the virtual. Pushing its human story to the forefront while weaving the reality with gaming emphasises its anti-corporate themes, resulting in an uplifting tale of the underdog; a fun surprise worth watching if you’re free, like Guy.
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