Review of Free Guy (2021) by Healingtoolbox — 12 Sep 2021

10/10 IF you are are aware of gamer culture, not just play games. 8/10 if you only play games or don't care about games. Why? Free Guy is very "meta.".

This is a nearly perfect movie, polished to perfection due to the many release delays. I suggest audiences think about this as a movie about IMAGINATION more generally, instead of just games. This is another film with three or more big digital VFX houses contributing heavily. This means Sean Levy had the input, creativity and intelligence of three more TDs, Technical Directors. These films, ten or more of them now, have many, many masterful sequences even if the film as a whole doesn't work for everyone.

Notable here is the Channing Tatum Badass "intermission" in the middle. This appears at exactly the place in the film where the sameness of the premise, characters and digital assets wears on audiences. To see this filmmaking flaw, watch Pixar's UP or Inside Out. Fewer AAA films since have this "dead space" lag prior to the third act. The Channing Tatum piece adds novelty and interest just when in the back of the audiences' mind, we're going yeah, yeah, yeah, so what? What else?".

I agree with Paul Stassi's Forbes piece reporting critics rate Free Guy over the Ready Player One film. I also agree Wreck-It Ralph is the next closest film to Free Guy. Free Guy is better because IT'S ABOUT IMAGINATION.