The premise “What if characters in video games were actually living people?” Is now nearly 40 years old and builds a bridge between Tron, Wreck-It Ralph, Ready Player One (and, for a really deep cut, Automan). There’s going to be a twist in Free Guy next summer when Ryan Reynolds is a non-player character in a Grand Theft Auto open-world video game that recognizes the truth with a They Live sunglasses and fights back.
Free Guy seems to be a kind of belligerent, spoofy, tongue in cheek compilation of geek culture credentials that has given Ryan Reynolds a bathtub full of nominations for his two Deadpool films. But from the trailer that 20th Century Fox has dropped today, Free Guy is more like a longer-lasting, rounder spirit of the screen: what if the average person is suddenly in power? I think this three-minute clip could give Frank Capra a stiffie.
In any case, I’m here for it. Free Guy, written by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn, is staged by Shawn Levy, the stars Reynolds and Jodie Comer, and has pocketed Taika Waititi as a bonus.
