Guy (Ryan Reynolds) wakes up every morning and goes through the same routine. He puts on the same outfit, gets the same coffee at the same café, and then walks to work along the same route with best friend Buddy (Lil Rel Howery), a security guard at the same bank where Guy works as a teller. On the way, they always pass by the same store as Guy looks longingly at the same pair of fancy sneakers in the window, which, according to his latest ATM balance, he still can’t afford. And once they get to work, it’s not long before someone wearing sunglasses comes into the bank and robs it at gunpoint. Guy and Buddy aren’t even phased by this—they are actually NPCs (non-player characters) in a video game called Free City—though they don’t actually know that. To Guy and Buddy, this is just normal life. However, for Guy, that is all that is about to change.

Guy often tells Buddy that the one thing missing in his life is his dream girl, but he knows that she is just that, a dream that will never happen. That is, until he actually sees her walking down the street one day, singing the same Mariah Carey song that’s in his own head. She is MolotovGirl (Jodie Comer), and she’s on a mission. In the real life, she’s computer programmer Millie Rusk, who four years earlier had developed an immersive high-tech AI engine with her best friend Walter “Keys” McKey (Joe Keery). They partnered with publisher Soonami Games, but their game was never published. Instead, the head of the company, Antwan (Taika Waititi), released his own open-world game Free City instead, claiming to have scrapped their code. However, Millie has filed a lawsuit against Antwan, accusing him of illegally using their code without giving them proper credit or royalties. She believes the evidence to prove her case may be hiding in a stash house inside Free City. However, she keeps hitting obstacles in the game as she tries to obtain the evidence as MolotovGirl. Keys still works for Antwan, but has been demoted. Even though he’s an MIT grad and an indie game designer, he’s now stuck dealing with player issues and complaints, rather than coding.

Meanwhile, inside Free City, Guy decides to stray from his regular routine and follow MolotovGirl. In the process he accidentally ends up with pair of sunglasses, which are normally only worn by the playable character, not the NPCs. When he puts them on, his eyes are suddenly opened to a whole new world. He can now see so much more happening inside the city—from power-ups, to health kits, to loot boxes and more. He starts to gain all sorts of new powers and abilities, but instead of using these to do bad things like the majority of playable characters, he decides to do good, and starts leveling up. His exploits don’t go unnoticed in the real world, where professional and amateur gamers believe he is just another human player using an NPC skin, and give him the nickname of “Blue Shirt Guy”. MolotovGirl decides to team up with Blue Shirt Guy in hopes that he can help her get the evidence she needs. But in the real world, Antwan is eager to stop Guy before he exposes the truth, and tasks Mouser (Utkarsh Ambudkar) and Keys with getting rid of this glitch in the game. Antwan also has an even more nefarious plan that threatens the very existence of Free City and all who live there—and a secret weapon to help him carry it out. Can Guy and Millie/MolotovGirl take down Antwan and save Free City and its NPCs before it’s too late?!

Free Guy is a thoroughly entertaining action-comedy from Sean Levy (the Night at the Museum franchise). It takes viewers on a fun and fantastical ride into the world of a video game, where literally anything can happen. At the heart of the story is the wide-eyed, ever-pleasant Guy who finds his world and very existence suddenly turned upside down. While he had always felt happy, he never realized just how mundane and pre-determined his life had always been. Now he has the chance to make his life whatever he wants it to be, and that is thanks to this wild woman, MolotovGirl, who makes him feel love for the first time. Reynolds is so delightful as the always up-beat, sometimes sarcastic Blue Shirt Guy. No matter what obstacles come in his way, nothing seems to phase Guy, and he just rolls with it. A helicopter could be exploding in the air, people could be stealing a car, or a tank could rolling down the streets behind him, and he wouldn’t even notice. Guy also has this wonderful, fun relationship with best friend Buddy, who has the same ever-chipper attitude. Lil Rel is great and matches Reynolds positivity ounce for ounce. It just makes you smile whenever these two are in a scene together. Then there’s Jodie Comer, who plays two very different characters (with varying accents). In the game, MolotovGirl is this tough, experienced, no-nonsense action hero who is on a mission and will take down anyone in her way. She’s a great counterpart to Guy’s more naïve and trusting nature, and the two have great chemistry.

In the real world, Millie is much more subdued and a bit dorky. She doesn’t really know what to make of Guy, but knows she needs his help if she’s going to take down Antwan. We get this sort of office comedy in the real world. Taika Waititi is hilarious as the over-the-top boss who tries to act cool, referring to everyone as “bro” and making lots of pop culture references, but really he mostly comes off as a tool, becoming like a moustache-twirling villain by the end. Then there’s the co-workers Keys and Mouser, who are tasked with stopping Guy. We not only see them partner up as bumbling cops in Free City, but also dealing with Antwan’s ridiculous demands in the real world. Keys and Millie have this history together. While they deny there has ever been any feelings between then, it’s pretty obvious these longtime friends have some sort of connection.

Free Guy easily lends itself to multiple viewings as there is so much happening in every scene—particularly in the world of Free City. There are loads of other fun NPC characters that Guy and Buddy interact with on a daily basis. The filmmakers have also captured so much of gamer culture, and have thrown in many fun references in the backgrounds of scenes, with callouts to specific games and other Disney properties. There are also cameos from many professional gamers providing commentary to their viewers on Guy’s exploits in Free City. Plus there so many small, tiny details added here and there to flesh out this world and make it feel like you’re truly in a video game. One example is when Guy first gets his glasses, and way in the background you can see an obviously new player practicing and trying to perfect some kind of trick and practicing jumping off of the wall over and over again (I’ve been there plenty of times!), and in other scenes there are people tea-bagging or doing victory dances. It seems like there are whole other storylines playing out in the backgrounds—it makes me want to re-watch and just ignore the foreground action!

20th Century Studios’s Blu-ray release features a solid presentation. The video looks clean and pristine throughout, with an excellent level of detail capturing all the effects and craziness happening inside Free City. The real world and video game worlds each have their own palettes—Free City with its bright, beautiful colors, while the real world is a little more subdued. The audio track provides clear dialogue throughout, with Guy’s inner commentary primarily coming from the center channel. There is always a lot of chaos and activity in Free City, and the sounds are nicely layered to provide a general ambiance and a more immersive experience. You really get the feeling like you’re in this game world with all the rumbling of explosions and revving of engines. The bonus material consists of 3 deleted/extended scenes, a gag reel, and 46 minutes of fun behind-the-scenes featurettes. The Blu-ray disc comes packed in a standard HD keepcase without a slipcover, and includes a sheet with redemption instructions for an HD Movies Anywhere compatible digital copy of the film/bonus material.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:54:58)

Blu-ray:

• 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
• Audio: English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 2.0 Descriptive Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital
• Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, Korean

Digital (code subject to expiration):

• Movies Anywhere-Compatible HD Digital Copy

Extras:

• Deleted and Extended Scenes (5:43)
  Collection of three deleted/extended scenes. Play All, or select from:
  • Guy and Buddy Hit the Beach (1:11)
    As the friends enjoy a beer on the beach, Guy asks Buddy if he’s ever wanted more.
  • Hot Nuts Gets Blown (:24)
    A player blows up a hot nuts stand, so Guy takes their glasses.
  • NPC Rally (Extended) (4:08)
    Guy rallies the NPC players to no longer be spectators to their own lives.
• Gag Reel (4:48)
  Fun with the cast as they flub and forget lines, improv, make each other laugh, and just have fun on set.
• Dude vs Guy (15:15)
  Take a look at how the massive battle between Dude and Guy was brought to life. First filming the fight on Revere Beach, and then turning Ryan Reynolds into Dude in post-production. Includes stunt-viz, storyboard, crew-viz, and behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with director/producer Shawn Levy, VFX supervisor Swen Gillberg, 2nd unit director/stunt coordinator Chris O’Hara, and stars Aaron Reed (“Dude”) & Ryan Reynolds (“Guy”).
• Creating MolotovGirl (7:06)
  The cast and filmmakers talk about finding the right look, walk and personality for MolotovGirl and bringing the character to life. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with director/producer Shawn Levy, costume designer Marlene Stewart, 2nd unit director/stunt coordinator Chris O’Hara, and star Jodie Comer (“Millie/MolotovGirl”).
• It’s Taika’s World (8:34)
  Star Taika Waititi talks about playing the outrageous, over-the-top character of “Antwan”, while the director and other actors discuss working with the comic genius. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with director/producer Shawn Levy, and stars Jodie Comer, Joe Keery (“Keys”) & Utkarsh Ambudkar (“Mouser”).
• Welcome to Free City (15:13)
  The cast and filmmakers talk about how the film came about, taking a deep dive into the culture of gaming, designing the various sets and game characters, the camera technology utilized, and bringing these two contrasting worlds to life. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, samples of scenes with and without effects, and interviews with director/producer Shawn Levy, 2nd unit director/stunt coordinator Chris O’Hara, costume designer Marlene Stewart, production designer Ethan Tobman, and stars Taika Waititi, Joe Keery, Jodie Comer & Utkarsh Ambudkar.
• Theatrical Trailers (8:05)
  Play All, or select from:
  • Theatrical Trailer 1 (3:03)
  • Theatrical Trailer 2 (2:35)
  • Theatrical Trailer 3 (2:26)

Final Thoughts:

Free Guy is a blast from start to finish, with fun, relatable characters that you care about. There is so much happening in every scene that the film easily lends itself to multiple viewings. And gamers will likely get even more out of the small details added here and there throughout the film. This Blu-ray release features solid audio and video, and some interesting and entertaining bonus featurettes. “Don’t have a good day, have a great day” by picking up this Blu-ray!