WE’RE BACK!!!!!!!!

So apparently it’s been 10 years….almost…..since I’ve posted a review on here. I’ve done plenty of them but forgot about the blog!!! Well, time to change that so that I can point people here instead of trying to copy and paste to all different media. Welcome back!!

Free Guy

Regal Cinema 8, Bville

Plenty of A/C

Pepsi Zero (gross)

SpriteTrail, Angie and I have had our eye on this movie since the first trailers were released so long ago. We all love Ryan Reynolds and with Brady’s video game obsession it seemed like the perfect combo for all of us. 

This was my first time back in the Bartlesville movie theater since Bad Boys for Life in February of 2020. It was Angie’s first time in ANY theater since the last Star Wars in December of 2019. Not much has changed. Take that for what it’s worth. 

The movie was great. I’m always on the lookout for original ideas and content that ends up being well executed by talented actors and filmmakers. This had all of that. 

In case you are unfamiliar with the premise: Guy is an NPC (non-player character) in a giant open-world video game (think Fortnight). He works as a bank teller in the bank that gets robbed by players in the game to get money. As an NPC he’s just one of the AI people you see walking around or standing around in video games. He wakes up every day, puts on his blue shirt and goes to work at the bank. On the way he gets the same cup of coffee while meeting up with his best friend, bank security guard Buddy and reciting pre-scripted responses to everyone and everything. 

All the while, explosions, car chases, gun battles, robberies and all other sorts of mayhem are happening all around them. All they know is that the “sunglasses people” seem to be the one’s having all the fun and doing what they want. These are of course the avatars of the humans playing the game. Guy wants to change his fate. He wants to meet the girl of his dreams and find out what the sunglasses people are all about. 

I won’t spoil anything except to say that once he sees behind the curtain all kinds of mayhem and mystery ensue. It’s prime Ryan Reynolds being himself. Lot’s of hilarious in-jokes and cameos. If you are a gamer at all or pay attention to video game/streaming culture you’re going to notice pretty much every single YouTube celebrity ever in this movie. Very, very clever stuff. 

It’s PG-13 but it’s a pretty hard PG-13. I’d be careful about taking kids. Lot’s of language. There’s shooting and explosions and stuff but it’s all in context. No nudity. No sex. It’s directed by the same guy who made Night at the Museum and Stranger Things. In addition to Ryan Reynolds, the heroine is played by Jodie Comer from Killing Eve and her sidekick is Joe Keary from Stranger Things. Lil Rey Howery is hilarious as Guy’s best friend, Buddy and Taika Waititi is over the top as always. Every performance was great. 

Bottom line: it was really good to get into the theater again and this was an easy way to do it. Highly recommend seeing this in a theater instead of at home. Get out and enjoy yourself. 

Just as a reminder, my grades don’t match up to each other. Some people want a number some people want a letter. I already know that 3.5/5 is a 70%, C. Save it. 

3.5/5

B+

See it in the theater