Having been burned by one pop-culture rammed feature a couple of years ago...that being The Emoji Movie, and having had to swallow a huge ‘MEH’ while watching the recent Space Jam redux, I had low hopes for Free Guy.
Despite having some decent cred in the bank with Ryan Reynolds, Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer and the always fun Taika Waititi, there was something about Shawn Levy’s ‘covers all’ approach that I had trouble getting past.
Free Guy, at least from the trailer, looked like the laziest film in the world. One that is the result of a post-lunch meeting in some swanky film studio where someone says, ‘hey, how can we get loads of IP into a film and also make a stack of money?’. This conversation handily ignored Ready Player One and the aforementioned Space Jam.
For the first five minutes, as we meet Guy’s humdrum programmed ‘life’, there’s also the unmistakable spectre of The Lego Movie to get around.
But then the pixels start to really fly. Scattergun slapstick, visual cues, Easter eggs and a deceptively smart story sneak up on you in a romp that has far more feels than it should. This is part due to the performances of the main players, their chemistry and nuance serving as decent grounding among the icons, power ups and explosions.
Comer, best known as a bit of a bad ‘un Oksana Astankova / Villanelle in the acclaimed drama Killing Eve is brilliant value, inhabiting a place between the ice-cool in game avatar of Molotov Girl and the vulnerable lifer known as Millie in the real world. Reynolds is his usual safe. Affable charm and knowing humour. Hugh Jackman would hate this, obviously.
The supporting cast are also good fun, Stranger Things favourite Joe Kerry is winningly wholesome as Keys and Lil Rel Howery as Buddy provides the Wilson to Reynolds’ Chuck. Channing Tatum is hilarious in an extended cameo which involves a teensy look at the life behind the keyboard and Waititi serves up a serriius slice of slime, as the games co. owner ready to fleece is audience and shutdown the virtual world once and for all.
There’s enormous fun as Guy goes from unknowing dolt to becoming one of the ‘Sunglasses People’.
Yep, you could say that this a watered down Deadpool for a younger audience, and yep, you are either going to love or loathe Guy, depending on whether you know, love or loathe Reynolds. But, as far as family fun at the flicks goes, Free Guy really is a blast.
For Kinepolis screening times and additional film info please click below poster.
