“Hey, I’m here with my best friend, trying to help him through a tough time. If that ain’t real, I don’t know what is.”
Buddy
The Truman Show for the digital generation, Free Guy imagines a videogame NPC becoming self-aware and breaking free of his scripted routine, commenting on the way we live our lives as well as our treatment of virtual characters. The videogame conceit lends itself to cameos from big-name streamers but the creative freedom offered by Free City’s virtual environment is spent predominantly on ostentatious Fortnite-esque visual effects rather than memorable action. Ryan Reynolds is ideal as the charmingly guileless everyman as is Jodie Comer in a more nuanced role as both a player and a programmer with her own agenda, but the film leans too heavily on the likability of its characters at the expense of smarter social commentary. On the tech side, Free Guy is to AI what Hackers is to hacking — this is designed to be surface-level entertainment and swiftly falls apart on deeper examination. Despite its cartoonish violence, this is a summer blockbuster fun filled with genuine warmth.
6/10
