Good morning, or evening everyone, depending on what time zone you guys are in! Today, we are going to review a very interesting film that takes place in the real world, and in the video game world. It is a film that features Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, Lil Rey Howery, & Taika Waititi to make a few. Not only that, but this particular film is the first film to be made by 20th Century Fox/20th Century Studios, and Disney to play ONLY in theaters, as opposed to theaters, and Disney+ with Premiere Access. Presenting to you all a film with really good video game visuals, and other things, Free Guy!
Plot: The movie is set in both the real world, and the video game world. In the real world, Walter McKeys (Joe Keery), and his girlfriend, Millie Rusk (Jodie Comer) begin to suspect that someone stole the game code for their game, Free Guy, that they designed years before. So, in an attempt to find the culprit, Walter, and Millie work at their respective jobs, and play the game. Will the hero, and heroine retrieve their game code back, and have their game back as it was before?
Okay, now I’m sure many of us can agree that when video games were adapted into films years ago, many of them were not all that great, true? However, that has seemed to change in recent years. I mean what, we had films like Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time, along with that PAC-Man movie just a few years ago, and films like that. Of course, one of the main differences here is that unlike those films, this is an original story that involves the concept of video games, if I’m not mistaken. So how did the makers of this film do overall with making this film? Well, I’m delighted to let you all know that, for the most part, the filmmakers did well with this film. First of all, the video game graphic designs, and the visuals overall are a delight to behold. I mean when the audience is immersed in the video game world, it’s almost like they may want to be there too, at least when there isn’t certain violence going on at different points. Also, for those of you who liked a film like 2008’s Get Smart, which had a mix of both action, and comedy, many of you enjoyed that film, did you not? Well, for those of you who did like that film, you’ll also most likely this year’s Free Guy as well. The film has a mix of great action, really fun comedy, and some really brilliant jokes, and funny lines. It is surprising how it is all well handled for the most part. Additionally, the movie does a brilliant job of having the real world of this story, and the video game world mix together really well for a couple reasons. First of all, one can likely tell that the author of the game in this film is being very genuine with the way that he tries to run his video game. Second, the film is very creative about making the main characters of the real world in this film parallel the main ones of the Free Guy video game. You’d be surprised how cleverly executed this plot device is, and how well it works as a result. Oh, and most of the characters are well developed. Another thing to mention is that the relationships also work surprisingly well. Considering that relationships could have been a little better developed in more recent films, that’s probably saying something. One other pro to mention is that the world building, even if it could have maybe been developed a little more, particularly towards the end, is very well crafted. Oh, and the acting is really spot on, especially for Ryan Reynolds, Joe Keery, Jodie Comer, and Lil Rel Howery. Finally, the movie does a great job of executing the message about not giving up doing what is right.
Are there any cons in this film? Well, there are one, or two things. First off, there were one, or two characters that could have maybe been slightly better developed. Oh, and another thing! Again, did we really need to have the addition of one, or two gay characters in this film? Seriously, Hollywood, why not take a break from this kind of thing once in a while, for Heaven’s sake?
And that’s my review for Free Guy. Yeah, despite a couple flaws, it goes without saying that the film is definitely worth seeing. Who knows, after a person sees this film once, he, or she might want to see it multiple times after that. All to say, definitely see Free Guy if you haven’t yet. You will undoubtedly enjoy the film. That is especially if you want to see a film in which multiple elements of this film intertwine very well together.
Final Grade: A-
Matthew’s Animated & Live-Action Movie Reviews 