Review: Free Guy

During the course of the pandemic I have genuinely missed sitting in the cinema with my snacks to watch a film on the big screen, legit the last film I saw in cinemas before the pandemic was Parasite. So when cinemas opened up again my friend and I jumped at the chance to see Black Widow which was incredible. However a few weeks later we found ourselves struggling for choice with only three films being shown at our local cinema which ultimately led us to taking a chance on Free Guy. We both had vague recollections of the trailer of the film and figured we couldn't really go wrong with Ryan Reynolds and Jodie Comer so what's the worst that could happen? Sometimes going into a film screening with no expectations is a good thing because we were not expecting Free Guy to blow us away like it did.

Without totally spoiling the whole film Free Guy is set in two different worlds, the real world and an open-world gaming platform where the stakes are high. Ryan Reynolds plays Guy, a NCP (non-player character) who works at the bank within the game. He begins exhibiting strange behaviour when he meets Jodie Comer's character's Avatar Molotov Girl. In the real worl Molotov Girl is Millie Rusk who is playing the game to prove that someone stole her and her ex-partner's (Walter 'Keys' McKeys played by Joe Keery) code to use in this game. The film dips in and out of several genres such as comedy, romance, science-fiction and action.

The first thing that struck me straight away about this film was it's unusual use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound alongside what should be a very out of place soundtrack for what was marketed as an action film. Diegetic sound refers to sound that the characters within the film can hear on screen such as an explosion behind them. Non-diegtic sound refers to sound the audience can hear but the characters cannot such as a song in the background from the soundtrack. Free Guy however messes with both concepts a few times over the course of the film. When Molotov Girl walks down the street towards Guy she's singing 'Fantasy' by Mariah Carey which is diegetic sound as the audience and characters can hear this. However as Guy notices Molotov Girl the song begins playing over the characters singing as part of the soundtrack which would normally be considered non-diegectic sound but it's heavily implied that Guy can hear this music also. Furthermore 'Fantasy' is not a song you would expect in an action film but it's then followed by 'Cheek to Cheek' by Fred Astire and 'Make Your Own Kind of Music' by Cass Elliot. The soundtrack flows really nicely to the comedy elements of the film and matches Reynolds comedic timing perfectly.

Ryan Reynolds is one of those actors where you know what you're getting from him and so you're never really disappointed with his performace. He's known for his action comedy roles so the character of Guy wasn't that far-fetched for him however something feels different about this character. He could have so easily turned Guy into another Deadpool or Michael Bryce from The Hitman's Bodyguard but with Guy, Reynolds injected a real vulnerability that we don't often get to see. Jodie Comer has proven that she's versatile on Killing Eve a few times over now, but it was refreshing to see her in a more relaxed comedic role. There's no doubt that the dramatic undertones of Comer's acting were still present in this project and honestly it made her character really interesting, I'm looking forward to seeing more of her in Hollywood. Lil Rel Howery was delightful as Guy's best friend Buddy, but matched that delighfulness with more a more serious tone when necessary. Taika Watiti is always a pleasure on screen and he toed the line between arrogance and hilarity perfectly with his antognist. Joe Keery brought a more dramatic tone to his role but kept up with a rather execptional cast.

Free Guy is sitting on 81% from critics on Rotton Tomatoes and 95% from audiences, it's also Reynolds second best film in terms of performance at the box-office on opening weekend. There are so many cool little details and easter eggs that you're definitely going to need to watch this film more than once. If you're looking for something a little bit different, that's genuinely funny and well-made then I can't recommend Free Guy enough.