Nobody’s allowed to talk to the people wearing glasses unless they have a pair of their own. But as soon as Guy (Ryan Reynolds), a non-playable character (NPC) met Millie (Jodie Comer), a real life person, he immediately got heart eyes. Putting on the special glasses he found on the ground that only “real” characters have, Guy soon becomes a player in the first-person, virtual reality action game, but he isn’t out to rob banks like everyone else. Instead, he wants to help Millie beat the game because, in the real world, she needs to prove that her original game was stolen by the game’s creator, Antoine (Taika Waititi). 

Free Guy is an action-filled adventure that shares the life of Guy, a bank teller living the same life every day. In full belief he is living in the real world, he is soon crushed when Millie tells Guy that no, he and his friends are only background characters in a video game aptly called “Free Guy.” With Guy’s whole fake world destroyed, he joins Millie in the quest to win 

With the movie’s target audience being the newer, so-called “Fortnite Generation” and Marvel fans, the writers filled the movie with jokes and references to Marvel, Fortnite, and Starwars, as well as a small cameo from Chris Evans (look for him around the hour and a half mark). In addition, watch for appearances by Hugh Jackman, Dwayne Johnson, Tina Fey, John Krasinki, and the late Alex Trebek. Look for objects as well, such as when Guy fights Dude (Aaron W. Reed), another NPC who hasn’t been fully written by Antwan, Guy blocks Dude’s punch with a Captain America shield, and his arm becomes the Hulk’s arm. 

To add layers to the movie, while characters are involved in the game, everyone in the real world is watching streamers play the game and have found a new hero in Guy. The relationship works between the leads, as the chemistry between Reynolds and Comer throughout the movie is similar to Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in A Star is Born, and this chemistry makes Free Guy much more enjoyable to watch. 

After the premiere being pushed back seven months due to COVID-19, Free Guy debuted Aug. 13, with $51 million in ticket sales globally. For a full experience, theater audiences do need to set aside some expectations though. 

Being a Disney-owned movie, critics claim that Free Guy has the same concept as other Disney movies such as Wreck it Ralph, especially when it comes to the cheesy falling-in-love factor between Millie and Guy, similar to Ralph and Sarah, and the childish-comedy factor. This may come from the fact most of the comedy factor is based on Reynolds’ Deadpool and other popular video games. This isn’t pretending to be a serious adventure film, so the comedy makes the movie more enjoyable to watch. To reach the younger target audience, director Shawn Levy understands where the comedy originates. Teenagers and twenty-somethings can laugh at moments older generations may not understand, especially when Reynolds channels his inner Deadpool and makes smart remarks.

Free Guy is filled with comedy, romance, and drama. Even if one isn’t a gamer, this movie shares a heartfelt journey shown from a completely different standpoint that others may not have thought about

and is a great movie to watch for a family movie night (Rated PG-13, runtime 1h 55m).