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Grand Theft Auto

Free Guy: Breaking Free from the Background

August 13, 2021 by Jason Thai Leave a Comment

Free Guy is an action-comedy film starring Ryan Reynolds as “Guy,” an NPC (non-playable character) meant for the background (and amusement of other real players) in the video game world of Free City, an open world mix-up of popular sandbox games such as Grand Theft Auto, Fortnite, and The Sims. The thing that makes Guy special though is that he gains sentience and develops self-awareness and artificial intelligence. Breaking from the monotony of his Bank Teller job duties, Guy becomes free and goes on one of the most action packed and surprisingly existential journeys you’ll see this year.

Although Free Guy markets itself as just another comedy action film, it’s actually one of the takes an interesting look into the potential future of artificial intelligence, simulation theory, as well as criticizes the monotony of modern life. For those unfamiliar, simulation theory is the belief that we could be living in a digital simulation. In other words, we’re all just AIs who are code living in a virtual world where technology has improved so much that the NPC themselves are intelligent and the digital realm is indistinguishable from reality. Free Guy lives within that premise, as Guy does not know that everything within his world (and everyone he’s ever cared about) is really just part of a video game. 

When Guy discovers that he’s just some background character in a video game, everything feel pointless to him. Guy’s original character cycle is to wake-up, go to his job at the bank, suffer some kind of abuse for a player’s mission in the game, and repeat. Looking at his own life, he begins to criticize all the things people in the city do every day. But it’s also a reflection of our “real” society as well. When Guy says ‘This is all meaningless! This is all fake’, he’s also talking about many of our lives in the real world. Living our lives in the day-to-day, the loop that so many of us are in is essentially the same as some random background NPC character. In many ways, it can feel like we’re all NPCs who just can’t get free and escape. Tasked to serve Free City’s creators, all the NPC’s purpose (including Guy) is to just gain as much money as possible for the business itself. Antoine, the CEO of Free City (played by Taika Waititi), actively declines innovation that isn’t profitable and does whatever he can to squeeze enjoyment out of the misery of the NPCs in Free City, even though he knows that they are self-aware and intelligent beings. The ruler of Guy’s world is the business that he’s a product, not unlike the big businesses that we work for and allow to manage/monetize our lives. 

As he grows in his self-awareness, Guy gathers the other NPCs in order to assist in breaking them free from their work cycles. The speech is honestly pretty inspirational, as it dives into the monotony of their lives and inspires them to pursue what they really want to do with their lives and be free. Obviously, this moment is a message to the audience to wake up and not do things you do simply because you think you have to. You’re not just some background character living for someone else’s amusement. You’re so much more. You have freewill and should use it to pursue what you really want. Like the NPCs within the game, we too have power in real life.

When most people bring up simulation theory, it’s often pretty bleak. After all, you’re just code. Therefore, nothing you do is “real” and that you’re “fake”. Nothing truly matters since everything around you is just more code, more facade. But Free Guy has a positive look into life in a simulation and why it matters. Whether or not you are really in a simulation, you still can live a full and free life. (And honestly who’s to decide what’s real or fake, even if made of code?) If you have intelligence, you have free will. What makes your life any less real than the “real world”? What makes you any less alive? Your life and your friends and family are real to you, whether you’re code or flesh.

Despite the story having one of the most interesting underlying messages I’ve seen this year, it is also an amazing action comedy. While Reynolds excels in these roles, he really comes alive onscreen as Guy. With wonderment and lust for life, Reynolds does a great job portraying a character who is learning what it’s like to be truly alive for the first time. His performance is  hilarious and gives you a sense of joy watching him evolve. 

Filled with video game and pop culture references, Free Guy is definitely targeting the younger generation. As a Disney product, the film takes full advantage of MCU and Star Wars weaponry in the most amusing fight scenes. (This is similar to the partnerships the video game Fortnite has integrated so well into their games.) What’s more, the gaming moments are also done very well. This really feels like a video game, and you can tell that the CGI and special effects team did their homework into other open world games in order to get it right.

Overall, Free Guy is a very pleasant surprise and one of the most interesting and meaningful movies you’ll see this year. With all the video game references and action/comedy that you’d expect from Ryan Reynolds, Guy is great film that gives you both a look into the future of AI and our place in this world.

Free Guy is available in theatres on August 13, 2021.

Filed Under: Featured, Film, Reviews Tagged With: Disney, Fortnite, Free Guy, Grand Theft Auto, Ryan Reynolds, simulation theory, Taika Waititi

Guns Akimbo: Chaos, Culture and Carnage

February 28, 2020 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

“Never bring a spork to a gunfight.” – Nix, Guns Akimbo

It’s sage advice such as this that drives Jason Kei Howden’s Guns Akimbo, a film super-charged by red bull and ready for blood at every turn. Set in the present day, Guns Akimbo tells the story of Miles (Daniel Radcliffe), a mild-mannered video game developer who, after a night of combatting internet trolls, inadvertently finds himself forced to participate in a real-life (and live-streaming) death match on the dark web site, Skizm. Awakening with two handguns strapped to his arms, Miles soon finds himself in the cross-hairs of Nix (Samara Weaving), the game’s most popular (and powerful) killer.

Free-wheeling and fired up, Guns Akimbo feels like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World had it been directed by Eli Roth. Over-flowing with adrenaline and blood splatters, Howden’s film pops and spins with the energy of a video game brought to life. Featuring a soundtrack rooted in ’80s pop tunes with a pounding new pulse, Akimbo is designed to power-up the viewer for a rocket ride of carnage and chaos. While the film isn’t profound, it does win over its audience with its sheer glee for wanton destruction.

Howden makes good use of Radcliffe’s overall likeability as Miles, a lost and lonely game developer who meekly rolls through each day at his desk and pines for his ex-girlfriend at night. Since moving on from the Harry Potter franchise of his childhood, Radcliffe has deliberately chosen wild and unexpected projects in order to avoid typecasting and Akimbo is yet another push away from the beaten path. As Miles, Radcliffe brings his own brand of awkward innocence and humour to the character as he grapples with his new reality of having locked and loaded limbs. Strong ‘only behind a keyboard’, Miles is the furthest thing from a killer and absolutely no one’s hero. While the film has no restraint when it comes to carnage, it also appears to want to criticize the viewer for enjoying themselves. Although his job is to create an online game, Miles lives in a very real world, complete with dead-end job and lonely nights. As an everyman, he takes no joy in his situation and recognizes the inherent evil of becoming the villain in his own story. (Essentially, imagine a lead character from Grand Theft Auto with a moral compass.)

Though, herein lies the incredible irony of Guns Akimbo. Interestingly, while the audience takes in the craziness, Akimbo somewhat bites back at those who are thrilled by the killing of Skizm. Well aware of the drones chronicling his every move, Miles at one point even screams at his audience, blaming them for his situation because of their addiction to the violence. When the film cuts to the viewers, they simply laugh off his judgments, taking nothing to heart. In moments like these, the film appears to want to make a commentary on our culture’s passion for bloodlust. However, the film’s own interest in the thrill of the hunt mixed with its pulse-pounding soundtrack undermines the argument by quickly reminding the viewer that the bloodshed is all in good fun. As a result, Guns Akimbo ends up reinforcing the very joy of carnage that Miles seems to stand against at the film’s outset. Slowly but surely, the fantasy of a ‘video game world’ becomes the new reality and it does so with a smile. (In this way, the film is somewhat of a disappointment in that it misses the opportunity for a genuine exploration of a culture obsessed with violence.)

Wild and disorderly, Guns Akimbo makes no apologies for its enthusiastic attempt to bring online gaming into reality. Without question, this is a film that wants to entertain without fully committing to its social commentary. It’s loud, violent and strangely fun in an adrenaline-fueled way… so pick up the popcorn and pass the Red Bull.

Guns Akimbo lets the carnage rain in theatres on Friday, February 28, 2020..

Filed Under: Film, Reviews, TIFF Tagged With: Daniel Radcliffe, Grand Theft Auto, Guns Akimbo, Jason Kei Howden, Samara Weaving, TIFF19

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