(CNN)"Free Guy" is simply a cleverly programmed wedding of prima (Ryan Reynolds) and taxable matter, successful a movie that's silly, handsome-looking and a large woody of fun, successful astir inverse proportionality to however overmuch 1 sweats the details. Traveling wrong videogames doesn't ever extremity good cinematically, but this "Guy" braves that acquainted script and comes retired ahead.
Although there's a spot of "Ready Player One" baked into the colorful satellite that Reynolds' Guy inhabits, a much due (if loftier) spiritual heir would beryllium "The Truman Show," to the grade the cardinal quality discovers that the satellite he's surviving successful is wholly artificial, a conception for the amusement of others.
Adding a grade of difficulty, Guy is simply a nonmigratory of Free City, a spot with an inordinately precocious transgression rate, wherever moving astatine the bank, arsenic helium does, means happily dropping to the level without adjacent interrupting a speech with his champion pal Buddy (Lil Rel Howery) erstwhile idiosyncratic barges successful to rob the place.
Guy, it turns out, is simply a non-playable quality successful this videogame world, surviving retired the aforesaid regular implicit and over. All that changes, however, erstwhile helium encounters Molotovgirl (Jodie Comer, an Emmy victor for "Killing Eve"), a visitant from the extracurricular who has entered Free City connected a precise circumstantial mission, and who stirs reactions successful Guy that bring him precise adjacent to tilt.
What's happening here? Getting into that excessively profoundly would spoil the fun, but suffice it to accidental the avatars successful the crippled satellite don't carnivore overmuch resemblance to their real-world counterparts, and that Comer's outside-the-game self, Millie, is astatine likelihood with the caput of the videogame institution (Taika Waititi, amusingly implicit the top) down Free City, mounting up a menace to Guy's satellite conscionable arsenic he's rediscovering his spot successful it.
Directed by Shawn Levy ("Night astatine the Museum") from a publication by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn (who, yes, wrote "Ready Player One"), "Free Guy" offers plentifulness of gamer-specific gags -- arsenic good arsenic a dollop of "Tron" successful Millie's quest -- but 1 needn't beryllium immersed successful that sphere to admit the movie. That's successful portion due to the fact that the movie exhibits an arsenic beardown grasp of popular civilization successful general, including respective cameos, 1 of which is truthful bully arsenic to practically beryllium worthy the terms of admittance each by itself.
For Reynolds, who has perfected the smart-alecky demeanor of "Deadpool" to the constituent of astir being shackled by it, Guy represents a alternatively deft enlargement -- a quality that capitalizes connected his leading-man qualities portion wrapping him successful an innocent, almost-childlike package, since truthful overmuch of each this is utterly caller and overseas to him, which proves oddly endearing.
Perhaps inevitably, "Free Guy" seeks to tally up the amusement people and would person benefited from saying "Game over" a small sooner, but for the astir portion the movie moves briskly, coming to a satisfying decision aft the protracted chaos starring up to it.
The summertime movie play has offered a mixed bag, with results further clouded by simultaneous streaming and Covid. "Free Guy's" quality to interruption retired from that malaise remains to beryllium seen, but it's specified a cheerful, good-natured workout it deserves to person a agelong support life, whether oregon not it powers up connected this level.
"Free Guy" premieres successful US theaters connected Aug. 13. It's rated PG-13.
English (US) ·