Jason Statham, Will Ferrell, Jason Bateman, Michelle Rodriguez, Liam Neeson, Vin Diesel.. think it's safe to say Ryan Reynolds has joined the illustrious list of actors who play their roles the exact same way in practically every movie they're in.
Free Guy was an okay movie with a quirky original premise which it didn't quite take full advantage of, it plays out and feels all too familiar, I got a lot of Lego Movie vibes from it. There's some decent humour in there but there were too many jokes you can see being cranked up from a mile away. Ryan Reynolds brings his usual brand of comedy we've been accustomed to for over a decade..some of it works, some of it doesn't. That's not to be disparaging of Reynolds, i've enjoyed plenty of his work but when you're familiar with his sense of humour and timing, it's a bit too easy to predict what or where the punchline is.
Overall and most importantly, it's a fun movie I could see a bunch of friends of parents with adolescent children enjoying a lot together.
A good game movie finally.
You can take it as love story in IT-sauce, it's perfectly fine and go for it - way better than an average date movie. But it has multiple other layers too - when and where we will meet a friendly AI; why so much of the gaming community enjoys violence; what Ninja streams; unicorn pickaxe from Fortnite, and so on, many references to the gaming culture.
Everything is done with soul and well compiled, so You don't need to be disappointed whatever layer You are looking for. And Ryan Reynolds is the Perfect Guy for making the world alive of course.
So, when You next time drive a car and see an NPC crossing the street in GTA or in Saints Row or someplace else - maybe it's time to press the brakes?
A better Ready Player One (bar's pretty low) mixed with Wreck-It Ralph, Free Guy's main problem is that it's been over-trailered. We go in knowing too many jokes and plot details, and it takes a while for it to surprise its audience (things I think pick up in the third act). That will go away with time, but what will stay is that the movie feels the need to over-explain itself, as if for audiences who have no video game culture (and just who is THAT at this point?). And yet, it's still very likeable thanks to its stars (Taika Waititi a very funny villain) and Ryan Reynolds's character being a genuinely positive guy (or Guy). It doesn't dwell on its theme equating video game NPCs to the way we, the 99%, are treated as nameless pawns in politi-corporate games, but it's there. I also like how the love triangle comes in at an odd angle. And it's got some replay value, with many gags happening in background action and set design. An amusing trifle, and I'm not just saying that because most of the games I play are sandboxes like Free City.
I'm actually going to go out on a limb and say Ready Player One was a better game/VR movie, if only because Free Guy (2021) fails to deal with the disconnect between its actual in-game visuality and its presented real-world realism. Sometimes we catch a glimpse of the video game-like quality of the Free Guy world through screens in reality showing the game in progress: But it's not presented as such to us as viewers. This forces us to constantly have to imagine the real unreality of the game world in which most of the film unfolds. I found this visual inconsistency jarring, and Spielberg's Ready Player One resolved it far more effectively; the latter was certainly more visually appealing, too.
I feel like this movie was made for straight couples that hate each other, so they could have a movie they can watch together.
The director of this movie must have based it on these terrible ads you get online for stupid browser games. Say what you will about Ready Player One (which was bad as well) but at least they had more video game references than film references.
The movie could have had an interesting conversation about AI and what it means to be conscious, but completely blow last it. Granted that wouldn't have saved the wreck of a plot, but sure.
It really makes me wonder how many NPCs must have watched this movie for it being even half way relevant.
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Comments 1 - 13 of 13
MrDoog
Jason Statham, Will Ferrell, Jason Bateman, Michelle Rodriguez, Liam Neeson, Vin Diesel.. think it's safe to say Ryan Reynolds has joined the illustrious list of actors who play their roles the exact same way in practically every movie they're in.Free Guy was an okay movie with a quirky original premise which it didn't quite take full advantage of, it plays out and feels all too familiar, I got a lot of Lego Movie vibes from it. There's some decent humour in there but there were too many jokes you can see being cranked up from a mile away. Ryan Reynolds brings his usual brand of comedy we've been accustomed to for over a decade..some of it works, some of it doesn't. That's not to be disparaging of Reynolds, i've enjoyed plenty of his work but when you're familiar with his sense of humour and timing, it's a bit too easy to predict what or where the punchline is.
Overall and most importantly, it's a fun movie I could see a bunch of friends of parents with adolescent children enjoying a lot together.
CodeV
A good game movie finally.You can take it as love story in IT-sauce, it's perfectly fine and go for it - way better than an average date movie. But it has multiple other layers too - when and where we will meet a friendly AI; why so much of the gaming community enjoys violence; what Ninja streams; unicorn pickaxe from Fortnite, and so on, many references to the gaming culture.
Everything is done with soul and well compiled, so You don't need to be disappointed whatever layer You are looking for. And Ryan Reynolds is the Perfect Guy for making the world alive of course.
So, when You next time drive a car and see an NPC crossing the street in GTA or in Saints Row or someplace else - maybe it's time to press the brakes?
Don't have a good day, have a great day.
Evertore
Still a better love story than Ready Player One.Siskoid
A better Ready Player One (bar's pretty low) mixed with Wreck-It Ralph, Free Guy's main problem is that it's been over-trailered. We go in knowing too many jokes and plot details, and it takes a while for it to surprise its audience (things I think pick up in the third act). That will go away with time, but what will stay is that the movie feels the need to over-explain itself, as if for audiences who have no video game culture (and just who is THAT at this point?). And yet, it's still very likeable thanks to its stars (Taika Waititi a very funny villain) and Ryan Reynolds's character being a genuinely positive guy (or Guy). It doesn't dwell on its theme equating video game NPCs to the way we, the 99%, are treated as nameless pawns in politi-corporate games, but it's there. I also like how the love triangle comes in at an odd angle. And it's got some replay value, with many gags happening in background action and set design. An amusing trifle, and I'm not just saying that because most of the games I play are sandboxes like Free City.SpacedJ
Hugely profitable MMORPG with players everywhere in the world and only one server room in the basement? Who made this game, Activision Blizzard?boulderman
Funny, decent premise, great graphics and Comer. The 1D but fun Reynolds being Reynolds and cool surprises very good 7/10buc86
Why didn’t any of the players notice that “blue shirt guy” never went offline?ubersum1
Fellowkids cringefest. Especially with the youtuber callouts. Nice concept, but just another typical, saccharine hollywood film in the end.Cynicus Rex
The Matrix 4: Free Guy.chunkylefunga
Heard good things about this movie but in the end it just ended up being very average.Will be forgotten by the end of the year.
viccc
I'm actually going to go out on a limb and say Ready Player One was a better game/VR movie, if only because Free Guy (2021) fails to deal with the disconnect between its actual in-game visuality and its presented real-world realism. Sometimes we catch a glimpse of the video game-like quality of the Free Guy world through screens in reality showing the game in progress: But it's not presented as such to us as viewers. This forces us to constantly have to imagine the real unreality of the game world in which most of the film unfolds. I found this visual inconsistency jarring, and Spielberg's Ready Player One resolved it far more effectively; the latter was certainly more visually appealing, too.nubbi
I feel like this movie was made for straight couples that hate each other, so they could have a movie they can watch together.The director of this movie must have based it on these terrible ads you get online for stupid browser games. Say what you will about Ready Player One (which was bad as well) but at least they had more video game references than film references.
The movie could have had an interesting conversation about AI and what it means to be conscious, but completely blow last it. Granted that wouldn't have saved the wreck of a plot, but sure.
It really makes me wonder how many NPCs must have watched this movie for it being even half way relevant.
atomicelmo
Horrible horrible movie. 2/10