Today I saw a fourth new film, FREE GUY (2021). FREE GUY was originally due to be released Independence Day weekend of 2020, but like many other films its release was delayed over a year due to COVID. It just opened today.
Although it was originally due out last year, the movie had been completely off my movie "radar screen" until seeing a
trailer last month.
What I saw in the trailer immediately struck me as being a sort of live-action version of
THE LEGO MOVIE (2014). That story comparison proved apt, and the two films also have in common being well-made fun.
Although WANDAVISION (2021) aired after the movie's originally planned release date, there were also some strong thematic similarities with that show which I think my fellow WANDAVISION fans might find interesting.
In FREE GUY Ryan Reynolds plays Guy, a happy fellow who wakes up every morning, greets his goldfish, and has a bowl of cereal. All that's missing is THE LEGO MOVIE's theme song "Everything is Awesome," but that's basically the vibe.
Guy and his best friend Buddy (Lil Rel Howery) meet daily at a coffee shop, then go to work in a bank which is robbed like clockwork on a daily basis. What we gradually realize is that Guy and Buddy are living life in a video game controlled by real people, including Keys (Joe Keery) and "Molotov Girl" (Jodie Comer). Here again we see some similarities with aspects of THE LEGO MOVIE.
One day Guy spots Millie (also played by Comer) and falls madly in love, going off course from his expected programming. Like the viewer, Guy eventually realizes that he's an "NPC" (non-playable character) in a video game, and he and Millie try to chart a course toward freedom.
FREE GUY is a funny and clever film, mixing creative, original filmmaking with moments which at times give the movie the feel of reworking familiar fairy tales; those aspects are set against a bracing story of business infighting among hip video gamers. I'd say that Taika Waititi is too over the top as the video game company owner, except that I've worked with a couple pretty crazy people over the years.
I especially enjoyed seeing Comer in her dual role, having previously enjoyed her as Elizabeth of York in TV's THE WHITE PRINCESS (2017). She's an interesting younger actress who reminds me slightly of Florence Pugh; they're both women I'd love to see in more films.
Reynolds and Howery are just right in their roles as devoted pals, and, as mentioned, Waititi is pretty much completely insane in a flamboyant role as the man determined to control the game. Waititi is certainly busy, acting, writing, and also directing projects such as THOR: RAGNAROK (2017), the upcoming THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER (2022), and an episode of TV's THE MANDALORIAN (2019).
I won't say too much about it, but there's a laugh-out-loud funny cameo late in the movie; viewers will know it when they see it, I'm sure. A delightful moment.
FREE GUY was directed by Shawn Levy and filmed by George Richmond. It runs a well-paced 115 minutes.
Parental Advisory: FREE GUY is rated PG-13. There's a moderate amount of profanity and crude moments, offset by positive themes about friendship, community, and rebuilding a relationship.
The next "new" film I see in a theater will most likely be the Marvel film SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE 10 RINGS (2021), due out next month.
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