Our “Free Guy” comment: Algorithm with a heart
The best films are those that can be seen dubbed into Spanish in a long-distance bus. Free Guy: Taking Control is one of those movies that, destined to be a Sunday afternoon classic, can be seen in any condition and still be captivating and entertaining.
Under the tutelage of Disney/20th Century Studios, director Shawn Levy (A Night at the Museum, Iron Giants) once again demonstrates his ability to craft comedy of science fiction that are seen in one go thanks to the narrative ease, the endearing characters, the details of the plot and the spectacular visual displays, which always keep us attentive in the seat.
But the fact that Free Guy: Taking Control works perfectly is mainly due to the overwhelming charisma of its main character: Ryan Reynolds, an actor who can make you laugh with an innocent grimace, move you with a few words spoken in passing and engaging when he puts himself in the role of a romantic action hero, a shy heartthrob unaware of being one.
Ryan Reynolds is Guy, the “man in blue”, a boy who lives in a loop: every day he gets up, greets his little goldfish, chooses his clothes (all the same), goes out, goes through a cafe (the usual one) and enters the bank where he works as a teller, while things worthy of an action movie happen outside, with explosive chases, shots, robberies and fights.
Guy is actually a background character in an open world video game called “Free City”, in which the player avatars wear sunglasses so they can see the game elements. This is what Guy does one fine day, after the bank is robbed for the umpteenth time: he puts on the glasses of one of the robbers and realizes that everything around him is a video game.
The creators of the gamer hit of the moment are two young people, Millie (Jodie Comer) and Keys (Joe Keery), who some time ago had designed a video game whose code they sold to the eccentric businessman Antoine, the villain played by Taika Waititi. However, Antoine doesn't want to give them credit, and that's why Millie decides to recover the code to prove to the court that Antoine stole their idea.
The film's bet is that Guy is going to start to become independent from the rest of the characters in the video game thanks to the special condition of the algorithm with which it is made, until he realizes that it is not real, that it is an NPC (non-player character, in its acronym in English). That is, the algorithm becomes aware, and throughout the film it is about Antoine not disconnecting the video game. The creators not only want to recover the code that belongs to them, but also to save Guy.
Free Guy: Taking Over Drink some The Truman Show, Groundhog Day, The Matrix and They Live, by John Carpenter, to make family entertainment with original features, such as the theme it raises, that kind of utopia in which living with artificial intelligence in peace and harmony is possible.
The film handles a high level of theoretical complexity, but at the same time it has the ability to be simple. It is a romantic action comedy, with touches of science fiction, that is enjoyable from beginning to end, and that has an optimistic world view, where the good use of the algorithm can be salvation.
To see
Free Guy: Taking Control
Science Fiction, Comedy.
Very good (****)
Directed by: Shawn Levy. Screenplay: Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn. Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Taika Waititi, Joe Keery, Channing Tatum, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Lil Rel Howery, Aaron W Reed, Camille Kostek, Britne Oldford, and Matty Cardarople. Photography: George Richmond. Music: Christopher Beck. Duration: 115 minutes. Suitable for people over 13 years of age. Complexity: moderate. Sex: null. Violence: moderate. In theaters.
