Free Guy (2021) -
This film may have been an amalgam of many others, as it started off very similarly to 'The LEGO Movie' (2014) - Emmett getting up to the same routine every day, only to have his life changed by Wildchild and there were also obvious nods to 'The Truman Show' (1998) with Guy's (Ryan Reynolds) growing sentience and awareness of a world that was bigger than his own. AND there were hints of 'Ready Player One' (2018) as well, but it was all compiled in a joyful way that brought together a lot of what was great about those previous envisionings.
It was also an excuse for the cast and crew to blow stuff up and film all sorts of chaotic scenes, which were a great send up of and/or homage to computer gaming.
And although it has been a while since I played any games myself, throwing back to the likes of 'Super Mario All Stars' or 'Golden Axe', I could still appreciate all the various parodies of other game franchises and I loved them all.
The story though was nothing like I was expecting and it even managed to Jimmy in some metaphors for the way we live in our "Real" world, some moral messages and a substantial amount of heart too.
I would bet that Ryan Reynolds in the leading titular role, had a great time creating and making this film. I absolutely loved him in this part, which like 'Deadpool' (2016) was basically made for the way he delivers his comedy performances.
I also enjoyed how Channing Tatum took the Mickey out of himself with his character, Revenjamin Buttons too.
And the brilliant if incredibly brief cameo by Chris Evans.
Taika Waititi in his role of Antwan was awful though. The more I see of him in various things, the more I never want to see him again. Don't get me started on 'Jojo Rabbit' (2019) or 'What We Do In The Shadows' (2014). The man seems to think being an idiot is funny? Add to that a nasty and unstable streak and his character in this film is positively unbearable to watch, almost like something from a reality TV show.
I did however like the character of Dude, who was a great way to show code building and how it's created in layman's terms.
The action mostly took place in "Free City" where Guy was essentially a background, everyday character that worked in a bank. His day to day story, like Emmet from 'LEGO', was a repeat of the same thing, the same bank robberies and the same coffee every single day, until suddenly his programming was awakened by MolotovGirl/Millie (Jodie Comer) singing a Mariah Carey song. He gradually learned what his world was, because of his need to talk to Molotov, who was trying to get access to hidden files within the software and eventually he lent her a hand. What followed was a mixture of some quite hilarious comedy, a dab of romance and of course a mass of shootouts, car chases and all the things that can be found in most popular video games, all with a cracking soundtrack.
I thought that although the formula was quite basic and simple escapism it was actually quite a brilliant film - sweet and thoughtful, charming and really quite a pleasure to watch.
There were no funny bits after the end credits though, which I thought was a missed trick.
I will definitely recommend it and revisit on wet bank holiday weekends, food coma Boxing Days and Saturdays throughout the rest of the year that aren't special at all, because it was one of those that really worked as just a good film with no complicated feelings to consider, no sadness and no spoilers from knowing how it ended. In fact it will be great to watch again and look out for things that I might have missed this first time around.
775.68/1000.
This film may have been an amalgam of many others, as it started off very similarly to 'The LEGO Movie' (2014) - Emmett getting up to the same routine every day, only to have his life changed by Wildchild and there were also obvious nods to 'The Truman Show' (1998) with Guy's (Ryan Reynolds) growing sentience and awareness of a world that was bigger than his own. AND there were hints of 'Ready Player One' (2018) as well, but it was all compiled in a joyful way that brought together a lot of what was great about those previous envisionings.
It was also an excuse for the cast and crew to blow stuff up and film all sorts of chaotic scenes, which were a great send up of and/or homage to computer gaming.
And although it has been a while since I played any games myself, throwing back to the likes of 'Super Mario All Stars' or 'Golden Axe', I could still appreciate all the various parodies of other game franchises and I loved them all.
The story though was nothing like I was expecting and it even managed to Jimmy in some metaphors for the way we live in our "Real" world, some moral messages and a substantial amount of heart too.
I would bet that Ryan Reynolds in the leading titular role, had a great time creating and making this film. I absolutely loved him in this part, which like 'Deadpool' (2016) was basically made for the way he delivers his comedy performances.
I also enjoyed how Channing Tatum took the Mickey out of himself with his character, Revenjamin Buttons too.
And the brilliant if incredibly brief cameo by Chris Evans.
Taika Waititi in his role of Antwan was awful though. The more I see of him in various things, the more I never want to see him again. Don't get me started on 'Jojo Rabbit' (2019) or 'What We Do In The Shadows' (2014). The man seems to think being an idiot is funny? Add to that a nasty and unstable streak and his character in this film is positively unbearable to watch, almost like something from a reality TV show.
I did however like the character of Dude, who was a great way to show code building and how it's created in layman's terms.
The action mostly took place in "Free City" where Guy was essentially a background, everyday character that worked in a bank. His day to day story, like Emmet from 'LEGO', was a repeat of the same thing, the same bank robberies and the same coffee every single day, until suddenly his programming was awakened by MolotovGirl/Millie (Jodie Comer) singing a Mariah Carey song. He gradually learned what his world was, because of his need to talk to Molotov, who was trying to get access to hidden files within the software and eventually he lent her a hand. What followed was a mixture of some quite hilarious comedy, a dab of romance and of course a mass of shootouts, car chases and all the things that can be found in most popular video games, all with a cracking soundtrack.
I thought that although the formula was quite basic and simple escapism it was actually quite a brilliant film - sweet and thoughtful, charming and really quite a pleasure to watch.
There were no funny bits after the end credits though, which I thought was a missed trick.
I will definitely recommend it and revisit on wet bank holiday weekends, food coma Boxing Days and Saturdays throughout the rest of the year that aren't special at all, because it was one of those that really worked as just a good film with no complicated feelings to consider, no sadness and no spoilers from knowing how it ended. In fact it will be great to watch again and look out for things that I might have missed this first time around.
775.68/1000.
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