Words: Sarah Glatzhofer

When the first trailer of Free Guy came out in 2019, many people were excited to see not only Ryan Reynolds blessing their screens but also Emmy award winner, Jodie Comer – who many people know from Killing Eve. 

Sadly, Covid-19 ended up preventing the entertainment world from showing off their new movies, forcing them all to delay the new releases. However, the cinema has been open for a few months now, and the public is slowly making their way back to the big screens to munch on the popcorn and watch a new movie. 

Free Guy was finally released on the 13th August 2021, after a year’s delay, and it is still in some cinemas, such as Cineworld. 

Ryan Reynolds plays the protagonist called Guy, who is a non-playable character in a video game. He’s unaware that he lives in a game but knows that the people who wear glasses (the playable characters) can shoot guns, go on car chases and more; on top of that, he doesn’t find it odd that every day is the same. Until one day, the online avatar of Millie (Jodie Comer) walks past him, and he says something different to her than what he usually does. 

After this interaction, Guy does the impossible, and once the bank that he works at is robbed again, he picks up a playable character’s sunglasses and puts them on, seeing this new world where he can take part in different missions and help Millie. Outside of this computer world, we see the true Millie, and we quickly learn that she doesn’t enjoy this game. She is only playing it to see if the creator, Antwan (Taika Waititi), did steal the code she and an old co-partner, Keys (Joe Keery), created for another game.

As shown in the trailer, Antwan is planning to shut down Free City. The question is, will Millie be able to find proof? And will Guy and the rest of the non-playable characters of Free City be saved? 

In my eyes, this is a movie I haven’t seen before. It’s nothing like those superhero movies that are all very similar. Free Guy is very tech-driven and fits perfectly in the society we live in now, where our daily life is mostly spent online – whether this is on a game or social media. 

For me, the plot is an original idea, which is something extremely rare to do in today’s world. 

If you have watched Jodie Comer in Killing Eve, we all know how fabulous she is when it comes to accents, so it was a nice surprise to see her do a couple of accents in this movie. 

And, of course, it was a joy to watch Ryan Reynolds on the big screen. He’s a hilarious actor and always knows how to play a character perfectly, whether that is Deadpool or Andrew Paxton from The Proposal. 

But in my eyes, my favourite part of it all – please do not read this part if you haven’t watched the movie and do not want a spoiler – are the easter eggs from Star Wars and Marvel. Especially when Guy picks up Captain America’s shield – and the scene cuts to a cameo of Chris Evans, shocked to see this happening. 

However, even though this comedy is a movie I will watch again, there is just one area I wasn’t so pleased with – although it’s not a deal-breaker. I adore romance, but in my eyes, not every movie has to have a love story as the subplot. This movie had one between Millie and Keys – spoiler warning – at the end, Millie realised Keys liked her, so she ran to meet him. We all knew this kiss was going to happen; what we didn’t expect is for the pair to be on opposite sides of the road staring at each other for five minutes before kissing. 

Nevertheless, as I mentioned above, this comedy is one I will watch again, especially as I enjoy the actors who took part in this project.

The great news about this is Free Guy is now on Disney+. So, if you have this streaming account, order a takeaway, get some popcorn and watch this movie with friends or family – and you won’t be surprised with how much you end up laughing.