Millie (Jodie Komer) is a game designer who works to prove that Antwan (a brat Taika Waititi), illegally stole her game code to create Free City. She invades the game to find evidence to support her original idea. The evidence she finds is hidden deep within the game.You would assume that the movie was about her. Free Guy is more concerned with Ryan Reynolds, who is guilelessly moving across the screen as the title Guy. It feels like a version Of The Lego Movie, except that it swaps stop-motion Lego animation for video games, and adds a lot of The Truman Show. It's a fun, but not very memorable, summer action movie.Guy (Reynolds), a blind NPC in Free City is a popular video game. This game most closely resembles GTA Online where humans run missions and rob banks to get cash. Guy, on the contrary, works at the bank stamping generic forms. He also hangs out with Buddy (Lil Rel Howery), his security guard friend.Guy's life is changed when he meets Millie. She awakens Guy and shows him the possibility of making a difference in his day and becoming a good guy in the videogame world of thieves and murderers.Reynolds is as charming as ever. Reynolds was able to use Free Guy's feature-length opportunity to transform his friendly social media persona into a smiling face. Guys' blank slate is not enough for him to become a character. His entire character arc is based on being helpful and his desires and programming is ingrained.Millie Comers, who is able to act with agency and drive, ends up starring in the film as both her in-game hero character and as frustrated programmer trying to do the right thing. It's a shame that the film centers around Guy and his less dynamic character arc. This film could have been made with Guy as the narrative lead, but she would have been the fun side character.Free Guy disguises its heroine behind Ryan Reynolds but it proudly displays its gaming influences: Popular streamers such as Pokimane and Jacksepticeye make frequent appearances to comment and give the fictional Free City game all the charm of a real-world hit like Fortnite and GTA.Free Guy, as a whole is most successful in its ability to expose the psychopathic tendencies of videogame players from a real-world perspective. It would be terrifying to live in Cyberpunk 2077 or Grand Theft Auto, where near-feral gamers tear through cities, killing countless thousands of virtual avatars, and cause wanton destruction.It would be horrible to live in a videogame.The desire to be the best guy is a natural thing when confronted with such situations. However, Free Guy isn't willing to give up on that idea and instead reverts to action movie fare whenever it suits the plot.This inconsistency is evident throughout the film. The Free Guys villain scene-destroyer Taika Waititi looks like he is having the most fun in the movie (which is something that's saying something considering Reynolds' perpetually sunny smile). He gives not one but two speeches about corporate greed.Free Guy posits this as a ostensibly negative thing, but the film will spin its wheels and make some of the most offensive cross-promotional references since Space Jam: A New Legacy. It is possible to pinpoint exactly when Disneys acquisition 20th Century Fox was completed in post-production.Free Guy, after months of being away from the cinemas, is definitely a fun way to spend an hour or so at the movies. It's almost like a videogame with too much content. The movie bounces between comedy and romance, and it makes you wonder if there are enough sequels to do all of these things well.Free Guy opens in theaters August 13th.
