The first reviews for the Ryan Reynolds-led sci-fi action comedy Free Guy are rolling in and critics are loving the video game-set adventure. The film is set in a fictional open-world video game entitled Free City and centers on Guy, a non-playable banker character who yearns to do something more with his life and finds his world changed when he meets the fiery Molotov Girl. However, his life is upended when he learns of his true existence and Molotov Girl is actually Millie, a programmer on the video game who teams up with Guy to prevent publisher Antwan from shutting down the game for good.
Reynolds leads an all-star cast that also includes Emmy nominee Jodie Comer as Millie, Joe Keery as fellow programmer Keys, Taika Waititi as Antwan and Lil Rel Howery as fellow NPC and bank security guard Buddy. Directed and produced by Stranger Things' Shawn Levy, Free Guy became a unique property as it was one of the few 20th Century Fox films to continue development under the new studios 20th Century Studios after Disney's purchase of the former. After having faced multiple release delays from the ongoing pandemic, the film's release is right around the corner and critics have gotten to sit down to watch the latest Reynolds vehicle.
With just a week remaining until the film's release, early reviews for Free Guy have begun pouring in and the consensus is quite bright. While some critiques are being leveled at the film's story, praise is largely being pointed at its heartwarming tone, energetic pacing and talented cast, namely Reynolds, Comer and Waititi, with many calling it the best video-game-inspired film to date. See what critics are saying below:
Molly Freeman, Screen Rant:
Free Guy is uproariously fun, delightfully charming and unexpectedly sweet, with Ryan Reynolds perfectly in his element balancing action and comedy.
Russell Holly, CNET:
Five minutes after watching this comedy, however, I found myself looking up the next showtime in my area so I could go rewatch one of the best films of the summer.
Kristy Puchko, IGN:
Free Guy delivers a first hour that is outrageously entertaining, stuffed with gonzo action, goofy gags, star power, big ideas, and plenty of Easter Eggs for lovers of movies and video games. However, in its second half, the joyful journey is derailed by a slog of a side quest, falling short of the potential set-up. Still, Ryan Reynolds delivers riotously rollicking fun in an eye-popping, imaginative environment that treats gaming like the wonderland it is.
David Ehrlich, IndieWire:
Free Guy is nothing if not a movie that wins you over in spite of your better judgment and best defenses, but its “be the change you wish to see in the world” energy feels like a micro-transactional smokescreen for a corporate monoculture that only values creativity so far as it can be used to fool us into paying for things we already own.
Carlos Aguilar, The Wrap:
Less inventive that it gives itself credit for, Free Guy qualifies as a summer blockbuster with something mildly compelling to say; not the most articulate or substantial in its exploration of its most interesting ideas, to be sure, but enjoyable nonetheless.
Brian Tuitt, USA Today:
The real world of Free Guy is just never quite as fun as the colorful environment of Free City, which is filled with eye-popping visuals but also A-list cameos and clever references. What’s really striking, however, is how deep this flick is. Levy’s film has a lot to say about the power of free will, being your best self and breaking free from a stifling existence, while playing against a medium known for violence-loving trolls.
Mike Reyes, CinemaBlend:
Part biting satire, part big hearted emotional storytelling, Free Guy succeeds where many blockbusters try and fail.
Leah Greenblatt, EW:
Though Free Guy is one of many projects completed well before the pandemic, its release now feels fortuitously in line with the Ted Lasso mood of the moment, and the general pivot from sneering antiheroes to more atypical ones — like a guy so at ease in his masculinity that his sincere love of '90s R&B songbirds and bubblegum ice cream can peacefully coexist with his action-man imperative to save the world and get the girl (who regularly, refreshingly, saves herself).
Frank Scheck, THR:
While Comer excels in her dual roles and the supporting players, also including Utkarsh Ambudkar, are consistently engaging, it’s safe to say that Free Guy wouldn’t work nearly as well as it does without its leading man. Reynolds is an actor who often seems to be commenting on his own performances even as he’s giving them. Here he perfectly embodies the sweet innocence of his character, who isn’t even sure he exists but definitely knows that he wants to. You find yourself rooting for him as if he were your very own avatar.
Matt Goldberg, Collider:
Free Guy is easily Shawn Levy’s best movie, a film where he’s even willing to poke fun at sequels and commercialization in a major studio tentpole that will almost definitely lead to a sequel if it’s a hit (a debatable prospect given the pandemic; in normal circumstances, it’s difficult to imagine a crowd-pleaser like this suffering at the box office). Reynolds is at the top of the game, and he’s surrounded by equally strong actors as well as some cameos that I won’t spoil here.
Nick De Semlyen, Empire:
Comer, at least, impresses in her big Hollywood debut, toggling between British and American accents and looking at ease no matter how bananas things get around her. Her badass nerd gives the movie some sparks. Alas, that’s something in short supply elsewhere, with plentiful eye-candy but little to care about beneath the pixelated surface.
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian:
It’s an undemanding and cheerfully silly riff on the themes of virtual reality and artificial intelligence, and what the heck we’re all doing in this big old universe of ours: as if someone took The Truman Show or Inception – or even The Lego Movie – and stripped out every serious satirical ambition, replacing it with M&M-coloured spectacle. The result is not something that’s in any way challenging, but Reynolds is so puppyishly eager to please.
Hoai-Tran Bui, SlashFilm:
A surprisingly wholesome video game movie with a handful of humorous moments and solid performances, that nevertheless feels like it was designed by an algorithm.
For those who have felt concerned about Reynolds' return to live-action PG-13 territory since R.I.P.D., the first reviews for Free Guy look to quell most of those fears. Though the actor can generally stand out in even the worst of films, critics' confirmation that his presence assures the film works and has an equally talented cast around him does create some excitement for the film. However, what should be a bigger point of interest is many critics calling it the best vide0-game-inspired or video game film to date.
Ironically enough, this praise for Free Guy's video game aesthetic continues Reynolds' win streak in the subgenre, with Detective Pikachu still sitting as one of the highest-reviewed game adaptations to date behind Josh Ruben's Werewolves Within and Sony's The Angry Birds Movie 2. Though not without its detractors, the early reviews for Reynolds' latest film are certainly a promising start for those looking for a fun adventure. The wait is almost over for its arrival as the film will hit theaters on August 13.
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