Free Guy Isn't A Movie About Video Games, Says Director
Free Guy isn't actually about video games, according to director Shawn Levy. The highly anticipated film stars Ryan Reynolds as Guy, an NPC character who slowly realizes he lives in an open-world shooter video game titled Free City. Free Guy also stars Jodie Comer, Taika Waititi, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Joe Keery. Although Free Guy doesn't premiere until Friday, August 13th, the film is praised in early reviews, with some critics hailing Free Guy as the best video game film ever.
Significant plot details about Free Guy have thankfully been kept tightly under wraps, but there are a few exciting details about the film gleaned from promotional material. Waititi plays Antoine, who created Free City and wants to shut the game down. After realizing that his simple job as a bank teller isn't all that it seems, Guy teams up with Molotov Girl (Jodie Comer) when he discovers the truth. Guy's new goal shifts from the bank to stopping Antoine before it's too late, and it's game over for Guy and everyone else in the game.
Screen Rant sat down with Free Guy director Shawn Levy in an exclusive interview. Levy explained that the film isn't just about video games. The message of Free Guy is far more universal than meets the eye. Read Levy's explanation about what Free Guy is about below.
"The script had a big, juicy premise and idea. But it also had themes that were really interesting to me and Ryan. Literally, from day one, Ryan and I met and had this script about a video game character coming to the awareness that he exists in a game of a world.
But we wanted to really bring out the themes and the feelings of: don't we all kind of feel like we live in the background? Haven't we all felt a little bit powerless in the midst of a world that is not of our making? What if we started thinking about the notion that we can be empowered to have an impact, and that's the arc of the character.
Again, using this video game premise for a movie that is not about video games. It's about the way we all navigate the world and aspire to live."
Free Guy's main message definitely sounds inspiring. After more than a year of countless movie delays in the entertainment sphere due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Free Guy sounds like the optimistic piece of cinema the world needs. Feeling out of control in an ever-changing world is undoubtedly a universal feeling among moviegoers and in general. So it's always great to see a cheerful character like Reynolds' Guy take control of his destiny and ultimately triumph (hopefully.) Based on Levy's comments, it looks like Free Guy has a double meaning. Not only does the title stand for Guy freeing himself from the game, but it also symbolizes Guy actively choosing to be free rather than living a life controlled by others.
Of course, the film is also looking to be quite comedic, particularly with Reynolds as the star. Reynolds filmed a hilarious video that went viral as Deadpool with the MCU's Korg (voiced by Waititi), which featured the two characters reacting to a Free Guy trailer. Reynolds also shared a hilarious clip of him playing another free guy character, Dude, a ridiculously jacked-up character created by Antoine to stop Guy.
Free Guy is definitely shaping up to be a hilarious and heartwarming film. Early reviews praised Free Guy's message of the importance of free will, so it looks like Levy and Reynolds' initial idea about empowering Guy paid off. It will be interesting to watch Guy's journey from an NPC to the main character in his own right.