When I first saw the trailer for Free Guy over a year ago (a month or so before the worldwide pandemic hit) I thought it looked a lot of fun. Then when films started opening in cinemas again, after having their release dates pushed back a year or more, I thought Free Guy was the movie that would most likely get people going back to the movies.
Though it was never really tested, since other movies have opened before it during the pandemic, it is doing particularly well at the box office with a strong second week's takings (where most other films have experienced quite large drops in the second week).
I'm speculating but I think Ryan Reynold's ability to market anything, including this film, in a way that you look forward to watching his campaigns, has brought people in, then word of mouth on how fun the film is, has been working well.
The film centers on Guy (Ryan Reynolds), a non player character (NPC) in a violent video game world, who doesn't actually know he's in a video game world until his life takes a dramatic turn when he meets the girl of his dreams, Millie (Jodie Comer), a game player searching for a secret level.
I'm not really an online gaming person but everything in this movie felt authentic to me in terms of the game world and how it was viewed by people in the real world. I feel there definitely were a few moments where events in the real world would have much more instantaneous ramifications in the game world but were drawn out for dramatic effect. Not a major issue though, movies about computers have done this for as long as they've been making them.
I will say, the CGI in the game world is really well done when you consider they could've easily downgraded the CGI to be more computer game quality.
Free Guy is not likely a movie you'll remember and be discussing the ins and outs of for years to come. It is a fun, humorous, and highly entertaining time in the theatre. Very rewatchable for some great action, and totally ridiculous fight scenes (I mean that in a good way) particularly with Millie, who is an awesome player.
It kind of feels like a Michael Bay film crossed with a Pixar animation. Big action with larger than life characters, good humor, and a message of hope.
As I said, it's a fun movie, well worth seeing on the big screen at least once if you can.