Ryan Reynolds once again hits big with Free Guy. An original concept, not a remake or sequel and is one of the most refreshingly funny movies of the summer.
When a bank teller, Guy (Ryan Reynolds) discovers he’s actually a background player in an open-world video game, he decides to become the hero of his own story — one that he can rewrite himself. In a world where there’s no limits, he’s determined to save the day his way before it’s too late, and maybe find a little romance with the coder who conceived him.
Free Guy is one of those movies that you benefit from knowing as little as possible about to seriously enjoy this. With elements of The Truman Show, Lego Movie and various homages to video games from Fortnite, GTA, Red Dead Redemption to Sim City and beyond, Free Guy can make claim to be the best video game movie ever.
Jodie Cromer (Killing Eve) and Taika Waititi as Millie / Molotov Girl and Antwan are superb throughout, absolutely fantastic at time, but don’t be fooled, this is a Ryan Reynolds movie. You can see he is completely sold into Shawn Levy’s vision of what this film is to be, and that is just solid good old fashioned fun. Not since Reynolds bounding onto our screens in Van Wilder (Without the crudity) has Reynolds been this much fun to watch without it just being Ryan Reynolds being Ryan Reynolds.
The supporting cast of Joe Keery (Stranger Things) and Lil Rel Howery (Fatherhood) add equal sprinklings of fun, but in reality are confined to the expostionary roles. You can’t discuss some of the other characters without ruining some of the surprises that Free Guy has in store for you, so we won’t say too much more than that here.
The cameos come thick and fast and you won’t always recognise them, but you will likely have an inkling of who they are, so stick around until the end credits to discover who you missed. However there is one cameo that will certainly bring the house down, which with absolutely no spoilers given, is absolutely worth the wait.
There are some seriously clever touches going on in every single frame of the movie, the attention to detail is simply magnificent. From characters trying to jump in the wrong place to glitching and just gamers nonsense happening everywhere, you could watch the film twice and on the second viewing, just watch what’s going on in the background, which is a movie in itself.
Free Guy has already had a sequel commissioned by Disney, but this is one of those movies that really doesn’t require one. The film is complete by the time the end credits roll and you go away with the sense everything is right in the world.
Free Guy is in cinemas Nationwide now
