Source: IMDb
Free Guy is a wild video game ride where love and freedom is the key. Ryan Reynolds plays Guy who lives in Free City and lives a mundane life. The game Free City was developed by Antwan played by Taika Waititi who is an over-the-top video game developer and owner of Soonami. The main plot of the movie is that Walter “Keys” McKey played by Joe Keery and Millie Rusk played by Jodie Comer created a code that Antwan bought. This separated Keys and Millie. Keys decided to go with Antwan to become the lead developer while Millie decided to sue Antwan because she feels he stole the AI (Artificial Intelligence) code that Keys, and Millie created to develop Free City.
Source: 20th Century Studios Youtube Channel
Free Guy is about the relationship between Guy and his best friend Buddy played by Lil Rel Howery and how when Guy realizes there’s more to life than being a bank teller, Guy wants his best friend Buddy to go along for the ride. The other story is with Millie who enters the game known as Molotov Girl who opens Guy’s eyes to the world in which he lives in. The other relationship is between Millie and Keys, the former partners who end up working on the same team. Free City brings so many people together to work towards one goal. It’s a fun ride that makes you root for the good guys, especially Millie and Keys.
There are so many Easter eggs in this movie and special appearances that are fun and worth another watch to catch them all. There is a special appearance by Alex Trebek when Guy becomes a worldwide sensation in the game world and becomes a Jeopardy question. My favorite appearance, which happens to be one of the funniest was by Channing Tatum who was hilarious as an avatar played by a gamer (Matty Cardarople) and the fact that when the gamer was talking to his mom, Tatum acted it all out. The action in the movie is purely in the video game. The action is so realistic and the movie so good that it draws you into thinking that Free City is a real world, to the point that when the movie reverts into reality, it’s a little jolt and you want to go back to the action in Free City.
Ryan Reynolds and Jodie Comer have great chemistry, and you wish her character Molotov Girl would stay with Guy. This shows the strength of the script. The story made even this non gamer root for Guy and the people of Free City. Taika Waititi was over the top in his performance but that is what was needed to make Antwan an unlikeable character. My favorite duo was Guy and Buddy who even when Guy has his awakening and is more self-aware of what’s going on, Buddy continues to encourage him.
Free Guy is all about self-awareness and love. The love that eventually is realized
between Millie and Keys. The awareness of Keys that he was taken advantage of and that his friend Mouser played by Utkarsh Ambudkar realizes that Antwan is not about game play but that he only cares about success. Plus, the love Guy has for Buddy and the citizens of Free City. Free City is a fun film with a surprisingly strong story all within the world of a video game with Mariah Carey’s song “Fantasy” plays in the background and it works. This was a great movie with a great cast, and I look forward to the sequel.
Did you catch all the video game references in the movie? Did you like Free Guy and want a sequel? Let’s Discuss!