Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

Free Guy

This is a fun popcorn flick that will have you laughing the whole way through! Now this is probably the best video game film I’ve seen since Ready Player One. Now the film is a good time to be had the big issue I had tho is it borrows a lot thematically from the film the Truman Show. Now Ryan Reynolds is great in this film and it’s a laugh a minute comedy that will have you entertained the entire time it’s just the similarities do pull it back from really being something spectacular. 

Firstly, I’m going to say my positives first and of what I liked about the film. The premise is so entertaining as it’s about a character within a game that basically goes against the rules and finds out he’s in a video game. That concept is so much fun to watch unfold as the story progresses as theirs fun nods to gamers and everything about video games that is fun to watch out for. The film never takes itself to seriously which was nice it just gave video game fans a film that basically breaks all the rules and Explodes in such life with vibrant colours, fantastic action sequences and great laughs that always seemed to land. the best part of the film tho and what carried the movie was Ryan Reynolds who once again yes plays a quipster but he plays to his strengths in a performance that is yes very comedic but also heartwarming to an extent. As the film is very self aware of its setting which I love and is able to poke fun at it but it’s able to also pack quite the emotional punch towards the last act with an effective emotional aspect to the story that didn’t seem forced. It’s a great time to be had with fantastic self awareness, brilliant comedic timing, explosive action and a truly solid performance from Ryan Reynolds that mixes both his comedic charm and heartwarming honesty that results in a performance you can’t turn away from. 

Secondly, the negatives now keep this in mind the film I did throughly enjoy it’s just these are some minor problems I had. The film felt to similar to the Truman Show and The Matrix and I wouldn’t call it a flaw if it had one or two similarities but the overall tone and feel of the film definitely leans on those films very hard and it’s hard to overlook. As in the back of my head I kept thinking I’ve seen this movie style wise before just done better and it did irritate me for a good portion of the film. Now if they went in a similar style as the Truman Show but made the narrative different In a big way I wouldn’t of minded that but due to it almost being a beat by beat modern day Truman Show it’s not big enough of a problem I’d say it’s a bad or lazy film it just reuses tones that have done it better that have come before it. That’s the biggest issue I had with the film besides that I did enjoy the film but this was a pretty big flaw that was impossible to overlook. 

Lastly, Free Guy is a fun film filled with great comedic action and explosive fun brought to life by a over the top and surprisingly emotional performance by Ryan Reynolds. It’s a film that yes borrows from better films of its genre but it still will have you laughing and having a total blast as it’s a fantastic video game movie that explodes in great heart and humour Free Guy has its flaws but it’s pros definitely soar higher then it’s flaws making for a fun film everyone will enjoy. I recommend everyone go check this film out and In IMAX if possible you’ll thank me later. 

This film centres around a character in a video game that realizes that he is in fact inside a game and tries to crack the code and breakout of what the game allows him to do and try to find meaning to his life 

Rated PG - 13 : Language|Crude/Suggestive References|Strong Fantasy Violence

Ryan Reynolds : Ryan gives a fun and energetic performance as the quippy game character that breaks out of the gaming rules! Now Ryan Reynolds Is an actor I have been watching since his Van Wilder days way back when and I have seen him since in films like waiting and the massively underrated comedy/drama Adventureland which I still think is some of his best work which more people should check out. Now that being said he has mastered the art of playing the sarcastic witty comedic character and that is also why he was perfectly cast as Wade Wilson in Deadpool. He has a gift for fantastic comedic timing and the jokes always crackle and land perfectly and so here he plays a character that yes has great amounts of comedic style but he dose not play the character one dimensionaly. As he played many comedic roles but he never just does jokes and quippy remarks and calls it a day he digs deeper than just that. So seeing how he approaches the character in Free Guy was very interesting as he brings a great deal of heart and soul to the performance that I don’t think many people expected. As when he finds out his whole life and the world around him is a false reality and that he is living inside a game he has an internal breakdown followed by an emotional search for himself. Now he easily could of just played it for laughs in a dark humour sort of approach. He did not he really wears his heart on his sleeve and has fantastic moments off truly touching emotion that feels very genuine and fantastically presented in the scene as Reynolds is very aware of when to pull back from the comedy and letting the scene breath by shifting to dramatic beats of emotion and then slowly shifting back when the time is right. Here he does just that in such an effortless way and that is why he is so fun to watch in the film as he explores many aspects of the character and showing us how complex of a human being this person is. When he goes for the comedy in the film its an absolute riot and is incredibly funny but when he shifts to emotional depths its very sincere and fantastically expressed by Ryan that never felt forced and it is a performance you could compare to Jim Carrey from The Truman Show for sure. But that film will get compared to due to the overall similarity of the story to Truman and also Jim mixed comedy with drama as well but that was a lot more dramatic than it was comedic. Here the comedy has a bigger aspect tone wise but drama does play a big portion of it too and both tones are brilliantly explored by Ryan in a performance that will surprise you for how complex he is In the film layering it with comedy but giving that emotional punch that has you rooting for him the whole way through. Ryan Reynolds gives a performance that is both comedically hilarious but also dramatically well done. 

Shawn Levy : Shawn is back with a big scale movie! Levy took a break from making movies for a while as the last time I saw him do a film was the third Night At The Museum film which came out a few years ago. That being said he has been doing stuff still just not on the big screen as he has been very much involved with the hit series Stranger Things so he has been around. Now what I have always loved and admired about Levy’s approach to his films is he has this Spielberg like wonder about his movies where their big scale childlike wonders come to life. As he has given us Real Steel, Cheaper By The Dozen, and even Stranger Things. He likes the big scale movies that give audiences fantastic new worlds to escape top which I love. So with Free Guy he explodes the screen with such vibrant colour and amazing comedic action filled with great moments of laughter and just genuine fun. Now that being said the only problem I had with his telling of this story was him leaning on the stories of The Truman Show and Ready Player One which draws lots of similarities here. If he was able to come up with a few different directions for the story to go in that didn’t feel to close to those films I wouldn’t be as bothered by it but it is distracting at times for sure. Now I still had a fun time seeing the film and seeing the story unfold as he has themes of self identity, and artistic ownership which I thought was great as I hadn’t seen a tone like that explored in some time and it never felt preachy or cheesy but really unfolded greatly as the story progressed in a very natural way. He mixes comedy with drama very well here as it never felt like a straight up comedy but it isn’t a drama film either he knew when to time both and give equal amounts of both tones without one overshadowing the other which was greatly executed. Shawn Levy borrows similar styles from other films that have come before it yes but he still gives the audience a truly fun video game adventure film that will leave you with a big grin on your face and Shawn plays to his strengths with a big spectacle packed with a tone of heart at the centre of it. He gives solid direction on Free Guy and this is a film I could only imagine Shawn being able to execute it screams Shawn Levy in its style and I love that fantastic job.