Free Guy

Lots of possibilities for thematic substance in this high-concept premise about a background character in a massive multiplayer online role-playing video game who develops independent thought and joins with the game's original creators to bring down the corporate dick who stole their code. However, director Shawn Levy (Date Night, The Night at the Museum series, the remakes of The Pink Panther & Cheaper by the Dozen) opts to simply deliver the expected VFX-driven action and dumb jokes. Am I wrong for wanting this to be the allegory for unionisation and our country's need for a strong Labor movement that it so easily could have been? I don't think so. It should be no surprise that a guy like me, who hasn't enjoyed a video game since 1988 and hates both Ready Player One and The Truman Show isn't going to love this picture. However, I do think the premise is clever and there was real potential here. If this had been made as a high-school project or by a bunch of kids at an arts camp, I'm sure I would have loved it. But the fact that over a thousand adults spent over a year making this, and that I, as an adult, spent nearly 2 hours watching it makes me die a little inside.


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