Review of Free Guy (2021) by Moviemitch96 — 14 Aug 2021

Ryan Reynolds stars as a background Non-playable character in a popular online shooter akin to 'Fortnite', and finds himself becoming more and more conscious and aware of his surroundings and day-to-day life as he becomes bored with his daily programming and evolves into a conscious artificial intelligence that tries to break free of his programmed system.

With the help of a human player he happens to fall in love with (Jodie Comer), him and the rest of the NPC characters try to rebel against the online world they've been limited to, and must try and stop a greedy gaming CEO (Taika Waititi) from deactivating and shutting them down for good.

The trailers for this film gave off major 'Saints Row' vibes to me, along with other similar online shooters, but I found myself intrigued nonetheless. And I can say that after going in with only modest expectations, this film turned out to be an absolute riot, both literally and figuratively, and I mean in a very good way! I had so much fun watching this film and getting immersed within this world and all the bonkers action and antics it had to offer! There's some surprising and welcome cameos throughout, and like any video game-themed, of course there was bound to be some Easter eggs and references to other games and pop culture references here and there, but thankfully the film surprisingly isn't overly saturated with them, unlike with another particular video game-themed film (Ready Player One).

In addition, Reynolds is just as funny and entertaining as ever, bringing in that same chipper attitude that he brings to Deadpool all the time.