Ryan Reynolds’ action/comedy Free Guy is already a hit with critics ahead of its arrival in theaters.
The film is now Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and holds an 86 percent Fresh critics’ rating after 90 reviews, with an average review score of 7.1/10. Its critics consensus reads, “Combining a clever concept, sweet, self-aware humor, and a charming cast, Free Guy is frivolous fun.”
Shawn Levy (Stranger Things) directs Free Guy from a script by Matt Lieberman (The Christmas Chronicles 1 & 2) and Zak Penn (Ready Player One), with Lieberman also credited for the story. Reynolds stars in the film as Guy, an average bank teller who discovers he’s a non-playable character (NPC) within a violent open-world video game known as Free City. Teaming up with Millie (Jodie Comer), a programmer who plays “Molotov Girl” in the game, Guy sets out to take control of his own fate.
CBR‘s Brandon Zachary praised Free Guy for being not only a funny and playful love-letter to video games but also a movie with a surprising amount of depth. “At times, Free Guy feels like a slightly more adult take on The LEGO Movie. The film is full of cameos, easter eggs, and comedy. But, there are surprisingly strong scenes that meditate on the nature of choice, love, and what makes life worth living,” Zachary wrote. “There’s plenty to enjoy about Free Guy as an action film, but it’s rare that a blockbuster like this genuinely feels like it has something deeper to say about the world.”
Originally scheduled to premiere in July 2020, Free Guy saw its release date pushed back multiple times in response to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. At one point, the film’s marketing even poked fun at this by having Reynolds announce the final release date in a video where his voice is dubbed over by another actor. However, despite the many delays, Free Guy is still launching as a theatrical-exclusive before hitting streaming.
Joining Reynolds and Comer in the Free Guy cast are Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Joe Keery and Taika Waititi, along with a number of as-yet unannounced actors and familiar faces from the worlds of gaming and streaming. The film opens in theaters on Aug. 13.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes
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