Free Guy (Review) - Come on! There's a guy in a bunny suit!
Updated: Apr 26, 2023
I like video games a lot! The fact that I don't have opposable thumbs doesn't mean I don't like watching my humans play video games. I could spend hours watching dad get angry because he can't finish a level or because he keeps dying!
But what does this have to do with today's film? A lot! Because Free Guy is a love letter to video games, especially the slightly more modern ones (in which multiplayer elements are the cornerstone). But before starting, if you haven't, watch the trailer here:
Guy (played by Ryan Raynolds) lives in Free City, a place where NPCs (non-player characters) like him do not know that they are the representation of artificial intelligence in a very successful video game called Free City. The great success of Free City is due to the fact that it is an MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role-playing game) where the player can do whatever he wants: kill, steal, drive at insane speeds, without any consequences in the real world. And in fact, the opening sequence is amazing! Molotov's cocktails, helicopters, stolen cars. Nothing is missing. At the beginning of the movie Guy is perfectly happy with his situation, with his job in the bank, with his best friend to whom he confides the dream of wanting to buy a pair of shoes, with his coffee that is always the same. But two things happen that make him understand that there is something strange, that he must broaden his horizons and that can change his life: 1. The encounter with Molotov Girl (a player who is trying to find evidence to prove that the Free City code was actually stolen from a game co-created by her, played by Jodie Comer) 2. Get hold of a player's glasses. The players' glasses, in this reality, are practically the graphical interface that allow them to interact with power ups, weapons, ammunition, money, etc ... And using those glasses, Guy is almost as if he became a superhero in his world.
Meanwhile, in the real world, we discover that Millie Rusk (real name of Molotov Girl) is the co-creator, together with Walter "Keys" McKey (played by Joe Keery), of a video game called "Life Itself", which was then sold to the bad guy Antwan (played by Taika Waititi) and used (without authorization) to create Free City. The film, in my eyes, is two very distinct but also very well blended things: 1. As already mentioned, a love letter to video games, with various citations to slightly older titles (at one point Guy uses a Portal Gun, from the Portal video game) but also to more modern titles. 2. A story whose moral is that anyone who wants can change himself and the environment that surrounds him, if he deems it appropriate. Among the things I liked most about this film is certainly the fact that visually the impact is very familiar to games lovers, but without necessarily wanting to make too many references to specific titles. This, at least within the film. As promotional material, however, I loved the stylized posters with various video games published on the official Twitter! You can watch them all here:
The acting is fantastic and Ryan Raynolds is confirmed as an excellent compromise between "handsome" and comedian. I like very much. On the other hand, not all the actors who have a part in this film are at the same level and I must say that in general bad guys who are too forced have always made me turn up my nose. In my opinion, as a household rabbit Free Guy deserves 4 out of 5 carrots! "Don't have a good day! Have a great day!"
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