Candyman review

CANDYMAN:

1992 HORROR CLASSIC GETS A VERY FRIGHTENING UPDATE! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

UNIVERSAL PICTURES AND MGM

Candyman…Candyman…Candyman…Candyman…Candyman

 

            The horrifying Candyman legend has been reborn in this update of the 1992 horror film of the same name. This new take on Candyman is directed by Nia DaCosta (Little Woods, The Marvels) and produced by Jordan Peele (Key & Peele, Get Out, Us) under his Monkeypaw Productions studio. 

            There was a lot of hype for this movie, it was originally supposed to be released in 2020 and even had a trailer shown before The Invisible Man but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was finally given a release in August 2021. I actually watched the original 1992 film for the first-time last night in preparation for this review and I have to say, it holds up extremely well almost 30 years later, the character has sort of a Boogeyman or Freddy Krueger vibe and very much like another movie I just reviewed, The Night House it’s hard to tell if what’s happening is real or if it’s all in the characters’ imaginations. 

            It really is a horrifying movie, I can’t think of anything scarier than a creepy guy covered in bees with a hook hand who gives candy with razor blades in them to kids, and then kills you. You know the term “Don’t take candy from strangers”? This is why!

            Now we have this new Candyman film that expands upon the character’s mythology and takes a more visually thrilling and sharp-witted approach, the result is one creepy as Hell but very entertaining Candyman! It’s too early for me to choose which one I liked the most since I just watched the first one last night, but I will say this is how you update a classic horror/slasher character properly. 

            The film follows visual artist, Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II-Watchmen (TV series), Us, The Trial of the Chicago 7) living in Chicago with his girlfriend, Brianna (Teyonah Parris-Mad Men, If Beale Street Could Talk, WandaVision). However, when Anthony learns about the legend about a supernatural killer with a hook for a hand that lures kids into his traps with candy (Some even with razor blades inside the candy), he becomes obsessed with the Candyman (Tony Todd-Star Trek franchise, Final Destination franchise, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, reprising his role from the original films) and makes the “brilliant” decision of summoning him by saying his name five times in a mirror…bad idea! 

            Anthony unintentionally unleashes a terrifying wave of violence onto the city that puts him on a collision course with destiny as he discovers that he may have more of a connection with Candyman than he thought. 

            The film also stars Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Misfits, Utopia, The Kid Who Would Be King) as Troy, Colman Domingo (Lincoln, Selma, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) as William Burke, Vanessa Williams (Melrose Place, Murder One, Chicago Hope) reprising her role from the first film as Anne-Marie McCoy, Rebecca Spence (Public Enemies, Contagion, Man of Steel) as Finley Stephens, and Carl Clemons-Hopkins (Canal Street, Chicago Med, Hacks) as Jameson. 

            Overall, this new take on Candyman is a worthy follow-up to the original film that explores more about the myth behind the Candyman himself, and given that it’s a Jordan Peele project (Granted, a producing one!), has some timely and thought-provoking themes worked into it. This one takes the Halloween (2018) approach and serves as a direct sequel to the first film and supposedly ignoring any continuity from the other sequels (As far as I know, I’ve never seen the Candyman sequels). 

            What I really like about this film are the scenes where a character is giving the backstory of Candyman and it’s told with these little paper puppets and lights, I thought that was a very clever and interesting way to tell the legend, it also reminded me a lot of the scene in Krampus where the grandma tells the story of Krampus and it’s done in a stop-motion animation style, I love it when horror movies do things like this, both visually pleasing but also unsettling at the same time. 

            The acting is also phenomenal with Tony Todd, once again killing it (literally) as the Candyman and Abdul-Mateen II practically going full Jack Torrance while trying to uncover the secrets behind the Candyman. Yahya is fantastic in this movie and in my opinion could give Candyman a run for his…candy, he does an excellent job being both funny and creepy as he slowly descends into madness. 

            If I had to point out some flaws with this movie, it’d be the supporting cast and some of the pacing. The actors all do an excellent job portraying their characters, but there are a few side characters that aren’t that well-developed, a couple of examples include a girl in high school who convinced other girls in the bathroom to summon the Candyman, I thought she would have played a pivotal part in the film since that exact same scene is featured in the trailer, but by the end she pretty much disappears from the entire film. 

            Another small nitpick I have is regarding some of the pacing, most notably some of the flashbacks involving the main characters as kids. It feels like a scene that the filmmakers had no idea where to put it, so they just threw it in at some random time, it isn’t essential to the plot and probably could have been cut. 

            Candyman is a terrifying if not a bit uneven update on a classic horror icon that fans of the first film, Jordan Peele, or Nia DaCosta will flock to the theater to see. It’s got blood, bees, and…more blood what more can I say but…Candyman…Candyman…Candyman…Candyman…Candyman!

The Night House review

THE NIGHT HOUSE: 

REBECCA HALL GIVES A POWERHOUSE PERFORMANCE IN THIS SPINE-TINGLING AND COMPLETELY BONKERS THRILLER!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

Rebecca Hall in The Night House

 

            Rebecca Hall (The Prestige, The Gift, Godzilla VS Kong) unleashes her “Sixth Sense” in a spooky lil’ house in The Night House, the new horror film directed by David Bruckner (The Signal, V/H/S (Amateur Night Segment), The Ritual). In an era where gory, slasher films and installment of The Conjuring Universe are the big horror movie moneymakers, it’s refreshing to see a horror movie or thriller that doesn’t just rehash what’s popular about the genre and brings a unique, original, and suspenseful vision to the screen, this is one of those films. 

            The Night House is a film that plays around with dreams, illusions, and…well, the audience’s expectations of these types of films and in my opinion, could go down as a new horror movie classic (or cult classic). I’ve seen ads for the new Candyman movie (Which I’m reviewing later on) everywhere and I already watched one of the best horror films of the year and it didn’t have much of a marketing campaign. 

            The best way I can describe it is like a mix between The Haunting, Hereditary, The Sixth Sense, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Sounds odd, I know!) and is one of those horror movies where it’s scarier when you don’t see anything rather than when you do without relying on excessive gore and even the jump scares feel warranted (Which is something I can’t stand in modern horror!), it’s more about atmosphere and subtle chills instead of slasher violence or ghosts saying “Boo!”. 

            The film follows Beth (Hall), a woman who’s reeling from the unexpected death of her husband and is now left alone in the lakeside home he built for them. However, despite her best efforts to keep it together, creepy things start to occur in the house as this lakeside house suddenly turns into a living nightmare, with a disturbing, ghostly presence in the house that calls to her. 

            Desperate for answers, Beth begins digging through her husband’s past and discovers shocking and terrifying secrets about not just her house, but her husband as well. 

            The film also stars Sarah Goldberg (Gambit, The Hummingbird Project, The Report) as Claire, Stacy Martin (Nymphomaniac, High-Rise, Vox Lux) as Madelyne, Evan Jonigkeit (X-Men: Days of Future Past, Bone Tomahawk, Easy) as Owen, and Vondie Curtis-Hall (Die Hard 2: Die Harder, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Daredevil(TV series)) as Mel. 

            Overall, The Night House offers a well-crafted and spine-tingling thriller that works on an emotional level as well as an intellectual one with some genuinely chilling, almost Hitchcockian moments, and a powerhouse performance by Rebecca Hall at the center of it all. This film really showcases Hall’s capabilities as an actress and does an excellent job balancing between someone who is lost and frightened and someone who is slowly losing their mind, it really kills me that horror movie actors don’t get much award attention because there have been so many phenomenal performances by actresses in horror films recently, Samara Weaving from Ready or Not, Elisabeth Moss in The Invisible Man, both Lupita Nyong’o performances from Us, Toni Collette from Hereditary, and Rebecca Hall in this movie, it really shows that horror films and thrillers have changed a lot over the years with more compelling characters in them that aren’t just there to be annoying and die. 

Despite not being onscreen that much (if not at all), you feel a strong connection between Hall and her deceased husband. In the beginning of the film when you see Hall trying to get over his loss, it’s quite heartbreaking and you don’t even see them together aside from a few flashbacks, not once did I feel like Hall was just acting, I was fully convinced I was watching a woman who just lost her spouse and that I need to watch Rebecca Hall in more stuff. 

What I really appreciate about this film is that it’s not always clear that what’s happening in the house is real or if it’s all in Beth’s head. It doesn’t just do a bunch of fake-out dream sequences or Nightmare on Elm Street stuff, the film plays around with dreams and illusions, one minute you hear a bunch of loud banging or knocking, the next everything is suddenly backwards (That’s where the Benjamin Button comparison comes in!) or the rooms are changing, and they never cut to Beth waking up in her bed screaming like a lot of horror movies do, instead she wakes up on the floor of the house which adds a little more to the mystery. 

I also like how with all the spooky things going on in the house, you never really see what the ghost looks like which granted has been done before in The Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity, but this film finds a very clever way around that by showing a bunch of pathways in the house that resemble the silhouette of a person and having it move its head to face Beth or something like that. I thought it was an ingenious way to show the ghost but also not show it at the same time, it’s a lot more effective and frightening than most ghosts in modern horror films. 

The film also plays around with what audiences expect out of scary movies, as it was going, I was piecing together the route I thought the movie was going to take, but it often threw me for a loop by going a completely different direction. I thought something involving one of the supporting characters was going to happen, but it didn’t, and later on in the film, Beth finds this statue of a person killed in a very gruesome way and I thought one of the characters was going to end up in that exact predicament, never happened, all throughout the film I had no idea where it was going to go and by the end I felt like I just completed some bizarre spiritual journey and needed a breath. 

For those looking for a traditional horror movie with a lot of creepy imagery and slasher violence, this may not be the movie for you. If you’re going in expecting a Conjuring-style scary movie, it’s not that kind of film, there are hints of it here and there, but it’s more about the atmosphere and the main character, but if you’re looking for a refreshing departure from typical horror movie fare, then stop by this creepy lake house as soon as possible, in fact do a double-feature with the new Candyman, see the horror blockbuster followed by this smaller but very effective thriller. 

 

The Protégé review

 THE PROTÉGÉ: 

MAGGIE Q KICKS ASS IN THIS FLAWED, BUT FUN ACTION FLICK! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

LIONSGATE

Maggie Q in The Protégé

 

            An assassin travels to Vietnam to confront her past in The Protégé, the new action film directed by Martin Campbell (Goldeneye, The Mask of Zorro, Casino Royale), best known for breathing new life into the James Bondfranchise (twice) as well as the Zorro franchise, and one of the most infamous comic book movies of all time with 2011’s Green Lantern, thankfully, this film isn’t like the latter. This type of film is nothing new, the trained assassin who goes on a hunt for blood to find the people responsible for a horrible thing that happened (You name it, John Wick, Taken, and even another movie I just talked about, Don’t Breathe 2!), we’ve seen this a million times, but once in a while there comes a film that’s kind of a mess, but manages to find ways to be entertaining despite its flaws, this is one of those films. 

            The plot is extremely disposable and standard, and the action sequences are pretty much John Wick meets Bourne and Daniel Craig Bond. However, what glues this movie together is the acting from the cast, particularly from Maggie Q (Mission: Impossible III, Live Free or Die Hard, Nikita), Michael Keaton (Batman 1 and 2, Birdman, Spider-Man: Homecoming), and Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction, Shaft (2000), Marvel Cinematic Universe). 

            The film follows Anna (Q), an assassin who was raised by Moody (Jackson) after being discovered as a child in Saigon, Vietnam in the aftermath of a massacre, and became a fierce killing machine. However, when Moody is (supposedly) murdered, Anna must return to Vietnam to track down the killer, which leads her to the mysterious and enigmatic killer, Rembrandt (Keaton). 

            The film also stars Robert Patrick (Die Hard 2: Die Harder, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The X-Files) as Billy Boy, Patrick Malahide (The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries, Minder, Game of Thrones) as Vohl, David Rintoul (Is Anybody There?, The Ghost Writer, Game of Thrones) as Edward Hayes, Ori Pfeffer (Munich, Dig, Hacksaw Ridge) as Athens, and Ray Fearon (Coronation Street, Beauty and the Beast (2017), Red Dwarf) as Duquet. 

            Overall, The Protégé doesn’t do anything new with the action movie genre, but those looking for a mindless but fun action movie with really solid acting from the cast, this might be your flick. Yeah, I’m not kidding, the performances are the best thing about this movie, everything else is very standard and borrowed from other films, but the cast kept me invested from beginning to end. 

            Maggie Q is great as this dry, stone-cold assassin and her performance made me think back to Charlize Theron in Atomic Blonde where I was like “Yeah, this is mostly a John Wick clone, but I am behind this character throughout her journey!), same goes for Maggie Q in this and despite her violent and mysterious ways, she works incredibly well with the supporting cast. Samuel L. Jackson, while not present for most of the film, the few scenes with him are funny and even a bit heartfelt, and Michael Keaton is excellent as this scenery-chewing villain who is intimidating and at times funny when he needs to be, but never to the point where he feels like a cartoon. 

            The action sequences aren’t anything spectacular, but they are nice and gory which warrants the film’s R rating, and at times exhilarating. One scene in particular involves Anna escaping a building filled with goons by jumping out of a stairwell using a fire hose, it’s quite a thrilling moment especially on the big screen…but seriously, did we really need to see the decapitated head of the protagonist’s mother during a flashback? 

            The Protégé isn’t really a must-watch movie as there are other, better films of the genre to choose from. But, if you decide to watch it, you’ll get a moderately entertaining action movie that you probably won’t remember afterwards but has some excellent acting by the cast to appreciate while in the moment. 

            However, if you’re looking for a really clever take on this formula, I’d suggest watching Nobody with Bob Odenkirk instead. 

PAW Patrol: The Movie review

PAW PATROL: THE MOVIE: 

FILM BASED ON POPULAR NICKELODEON SHOW IS CUTE FUN FOR ALL-AGES! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND NICKELODEON MOVIES

The PAW Patrol hits the big screen in PAW Patrol: The Movie

 

            The popular children’s Nickelodeon series hits the big screen in PAW Patrol: The Movie, based on the Spin Master toy line and TV show of the same name on Nickelodeon’s Nick Jr. block. Let me make this clear, I did not grow up with this show as I was starting college the time it first aired so I was way past the demographic for this film. 

            Because of this, I did not have any expectations with the PAW Patrol’s jump to the big screen when it was first announced back in 2017. If Teen Titans Go! To the Movies and Dora and the Lost City of Gold taught me anything, it’s don’t judge a book by its cover and this…is also one of those films. 

            Yes, for a movie I had absolutely no interest in seeing, I was pleasantly surprised at how funny, charming, and even heartfelt PAW Patrol: The Movie really is. It probably won’t be a movie I’d purchase on Blu-Ray or see again in theaters, but for a one-time watch, I was quite impressed at how much I enjoyed it. 

            The film is set in Adventure City, where the scheming, dog-hating, Humdinger (voiced by Ron Pardo-Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (TV series), Ned’s Newt, Totally Spies), who is a cat person…very important information, becomes the new mayor of the city and plans to lock up all the city’s dogs at the pound and use a weather machine to keep Adventure City sunny for all eternity…it doesn’t go well! This news is brought to the attention of the crime-fighting, city-saving team known as the PAW Patrol led by a young boy named Ryder (voiced by Will Brisbin) and consists of police puppy, Chase (voiced by Iain Armitage-The Big Bang Theory, Big Little Lies, Scoob!), construction pup, Rubble (voiced by Keegan Headley), aviator pup, Skye (voiced by Lilly Bartlam-Total DramaRama, Detention Adventure), firefighting Dalmatian pup, Marshall (voiced by Kingsley Marshall), recycling pup, Rocky (voiced by Callum Shoniker), and aquatic rescue pup, Zuma (voiced by Shayle Simons), along with their new friend, a dachshund named Liberty (voiced by Marsai Martin-Black-ish, Little, Spirit Untamed), and these canine heroes suit up to save the day before Mayor Humdinger destroys Adventure City. 

            The film also features the voices of Pardo also providing the voice of Cap’n Turbot, Yara Shahidi (Black-ish,Smallfoot, Peter Pan & Wendy) as Kendra Wilson), Kim Kardashian (Keeping Up with the Kardashians) as Delores, Randall Park (The Interview, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Aquaman) as Butch, Dax Shepard (Zathura, Employee of the Month, This is Where I Leave You) as Ruben, Tyler Perry (Madea franchise, Gone Girl, Don’t Look Up) as Gus, and Jimmy Kimmel (Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Boss Baby 1 and 2, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies) as Marty Muckraker. 

            Overall, PAW Patrol: The Movie has lots of colorful animation, cute doggies, and imagination for kids with just enough heartfelt moments and some surprisingly bold storytelling for adults. For someone who has never seen the show before, I found it to be quite enjoyable and offered probably more than it needed to. 

            The film is very well-animated with a lot of vibrant colors and flashy visuals, especially during the action sequences. Not quite Disney or Pixar level, but the animation and colors really pop in this movie…to the point where it could have used some 3D conversion. 

            Most of the humor sticks the landing, though there are a couple of modern tech-talk scenes that don’t exactly make me cringe, but they are the least funny jokes in the entire film. Most of them I found quite funny, some even made me laugh hard, there’s a running joke where the evil mayor always orders one of his henchmen to get his a new top-hat whenever it gets destroyed or ruined and they always have a hat on standby, even during perilous situations which I laughed hard at, it sounds dumb on paper, but just go watch the movie or find a video of the scenes involving the hats, you’ll laugh your tail off. 

            The film also has a surprising amount of heart and even a dash of drama, mostly involving the police puppy, Chase. I don’t know if the show ever explores this, but the film shows him as an abandoned puppy lost in a big city before joining the PAW Patrol, and that Ryder found him in the city streets and adopted him, it’s a legitimately beautiful and heartfelt moment, I actually almost shed a tear…Yeah, PAW Patrol: The Movie almost made me cry, that’s quite an accomplishment! 

            PAW Patrol: The Movie is a very enjoyable film for parents to take the kids to without feeling like they’re being dragged to it like a lot of other crowd-pandering kids’ movies. This is one canine adventure I’m glad I went on. 

Don't Breathe 2 review

DON’T BREATHE 2: 

STEPHEN LANG RETURNS IN THIS EXTREMELY MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD HORROR SEQUEL! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** ½ out of 4

SCREEN GEMS AND STAGE 6 FILMS

Stephen Lang as “The Blind Man” in Don’t Breathe 2

 

            Stephen Lang (Tombstone, Public Enemies, Avatar) is back as the mysterious “Blind Man” in Don’t Breathe 2, the highly anticipated follow-up to the 2016 critical and commercial horror hit, Don’t Breathe. Quick thoughts of the first film before we dive into this one, Don’t Breathe in my opinion was one of the best horror films released during the 2010 decade as it took one of the most overused horror movie plots, the home invasion and did something completely new and original with it where it isn’t the people breaking in that’s the threat…it’s the man inside the house! 

            The first film had this somewhat claustrophobic atmosphere of being trapped in an old house with a creepy, blind man inside who has a particular set of skills. Add in some gory deaths, mostly likable protagonists, and a downright terrifying performance by Lang and you got yourself a home invasion horror movie that’s both smart and suspenseful. 

            I recall in my review of the first film saying that I’d be down for Don’t Breathe to become a new horror franchise because of all the possibilities the premise offered. Well…Don’t Breathe 2! With Sam Raimi (Evil Dead franchise, Spider-Man trilogy, Drag Me to Hell) returning as a producer alongside the first film’s director, Fede Álvarez (Evil Dead (2013), The Girl in the Spider’s Web, Chaos Walking) who co-wrote the sequel’s script alongside the director of this film, Rodo Sayagues in his directorial debut. 

            After the first film’s success both critically and financially, clearly this sequel will be just as bone-chillingly suspenseful and clever right? Unfortunately, no. 

            Don’t Breathe 2 isn’t awful and I do have to give it credit for not just doing the first movie again, but it feels like a sequel that’s desperately trying to continue the story of its predecessor and has no idea how to follow it up. With that said, Stephen Lang continues to be as creepy and mysterious as ever, though in this film he portrays The Blind Man more as an anti-hero rather than a straight-up horror villain, which I found…odd! But there’s also a handful of suspenseful moments and bloody kills in this movie. 

            The film is set about eight years after the events of the first movie, and follows blind, former Navy Seal, Norman Nordstrom (Lang) who lives in relative solitude with his adopted eleven-year-old daughter, Phoenix (Newcomer, Madelyn Grace) and pet Rottweiler, Shadow in the suburbs of Detroit. However, when another group of burglars break into his home again and kidnaps his daughter, Norman must use his military training and set of skills to rescue her…No turkey baster this time! 

            The film also stars Brendan Sexton III (Empire Records, Black Hawk Down, The Runaways) as Raylan and Steffan Rhodri (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Ironclad, Wonder Woman) as The Surgeon. 

            Overall, Don’t Breathe 2 is an extremely average follow-up to such a brilliant horror movie that offered a fresh, new take on the home invasion genre. This time however, it’s more like a revenge thriller that’s a little more action-focused compared to the first, unfortunately the film never quite does anything new or interesting with the set-up to the point where it just becomes a bland, John Wick or Taken imitator. 

            The film also tries to humanize Norman, as previously mentioned he has more of an anti-hero role this time which I’m extremely split on. On one hand, I do like the scenes of him and the little girl, you feel a strong bond between the two like a parent caring for a child, but on the other, EVERYTHING HE DID IN THE FIRST MOVIE! 

            I know they tried to make him the protagonist this time and there are times in both films where you can sympathize with him a little, but it doesn’t excuse the fact that he did horrible, nasty things in the first film, which makes it more difficult to get behind him aside from getting his daughter back. Maybe if this was developed better, then perhaps it could have worked, but as is it’s kind of awkwardly executed. 

            Stephen Lang is still excellent as The Blind Man, despite being mostly portrayed as the hero in this film, he still retains some of that sadistic, blood-hungry rage and haunting and mysterious presence from the first film. I know people enjoy the more goofy and traditional villain role of Lang’s character in Avatar, but I think this showcases his full acting capabilities much better. 

            The first half of this movie is really solid and suspenseful especially during the scene where the burglars break in. Watching both Lang and the daughter trying to maneuver around the house while it’s being broken into is very nerve-wracking and paced and edited perfectly, but by the halfway point it becomes another generic home invasion movie with a John Wick/Taken-esque finale which…just isn’t that interesting nor exciting. 

            Don’t Breathe 2 has some suspenseful moments and Lang gives one hell of a performance, but with a tired clichéd home invasion/revenge thriller plot that starts off strong but lost me during the third act and some really forgettable villains makes this horror sequel strictly for those extremely curious to watch a Don’t Breathe sequel, everyone else should just stick with the first film. 

Free Guy review

FREE GUY: 

RYAN REYNOLDS VIDEO GAME TRIP OFFERS PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING THAT MAKES A SMART, FUNNY, AND ALL-AROUND ENJOYABLE SUMMER FLICK! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

20^TH CENTURY STUDIOS

Ryan Reynolds as Guy in Free Guy

 

            Ryan Reynolds (National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, Deadpool 1 and 2, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu) discovers his entire life is a video game in Free Guy, the new film directed by Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum trilogy, Date Night, Real Steel) and features Reynolds in one of his non-Merc with a Mouth-related outings. This film had a very interesting history not in terms of its development, but its release as it was originally intended for a 2020 release and even had a trailer shown before Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, but due to COVID-19 it was delayed multiple times from July 2020, December of that year, to May 2021, until finally landing an August 2021 release as one of the few 20^th Century Fox projects to resume production after the acquisition by Disney.

            Now, that the film is finally out, how does it rack up compared to the other big blockbusters this summer? Honestly, I know this might sound strange given that it’s Free Guy, but I think this is one of the best, smartest, and funniest movies we’ve gotten all summer (Maybe even all year!). 

            The film takes full advantage of its ingenious premise and offers an absolutely hilarious, action-packed, and even heartfelt romp with plenty of video game references, Disney callbacks (Because Disney owns Fox now!), and some surprisingly thought-provoking social commentary. Not to mention arguably the most likable Ryan Reynolds performance ever, and that’s saying something! 

            The film follows a guy named…well, Guy (Reynolds), who works as a bank teller in a place known as Free City…which is actually an open world video game that’s best described as Grand Theft Auto meets Fortnite where Guy is an NPC (Non-Playable Character) in the world. However, when Guy discovers that his entire life is a video game and befriends a player and one of the game’s programmers, Millie (Jodie Comer-My Mad Fat Diary, Killing Eve, The Last Duel), he decides to step up from being an NPC that gets his ass kicked by the players to a hero. 

            Thanks to Guy’s heroic deeds, he becomes the talk of the city in the real world with newscasters labeling him as “Blue Shirt Guy” and people rooting for him, but all is not well in Free City as the game company’s CEO, Antwan (Taika Waititi-What We Do in the Shadows, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Jojo Rabbit) discovers that one of the NPCs has gone AWOL and plans to shut the game down thus possibly destroying the first sign of artificial intelligence. 

            The film also stars Lil Rel Howery (Get Out, Judas and the Black Messiah, Space Jam: A New Legacy) as Buddy, Utkarsh Ambudkar (Pitch Perfect, Freaks of Nature, Brittany Runs a Marathon) as Mouser, and Joe Keery (Stranger Things, Molly’s Game, Spree) as Walter “Keys” McKeys. 

            Overall, Free Guy offers one of the most feel-good movies of the year, and I ain’t saying that to make it sound like a rom com…though, it does kind of work as one of those also, while offering a very smart, funny, and action-packed story about a man who discovers he’s in a video game. We’ve seen movies about people from the real world being sucked into a virtual world before like Tron, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and The Next Level, and to a lesser extent, Spy Kids 3D: Game Over, but here’s one about a character from the video game world practically going into the real world, and it often leads to some very interesting ideas being explored and lots of humorous situations. 

            With all the video game chaos and hilarious shenanigans going on, the film does have some surprisingly thought-provoking social commentary on indie game creators against big corporate CEOs who only want money and even a sequence where all the NPCs leave their designated areas in the game and go on strike like employees in a work environment or community going on strike against a company. 

            While watching this movie I kept thinking back to the 1998 Jim Carrey film, The Truman Show which looking back has a very similar premise to this movie. A man whose entire life is a TV show and when he discovers the truth, he tries to escape, much like Reynolds’ character in this film except with video games, it isn’t a rip-off though you could argue Free Guy borrows a lot of elements from The Truman Show as well as video game-related films like Ready Player One, Wreck-It Ralph, Tron, etc. while still being its own unique entity. 

            Ryan Reynolds is extremely likable in this movie as he channels a bit of Will Ferrell and early Jim Carrey in his performance as this wide-eyed doofus with a heart of gold. There’s something funny and even adorable about seeing Reynolds curiously and happily react to everything around him (Even if it’s something that could easily kill or hurt him). He doesn’t quite have the same zany, fourth-wall breaking humor he had as Deadpool, but for a movie like this, I don’t think he needs it, he gets enough laughs as he is. 

            Taika Waititi as the villainous, Antwan is an absolute delight as scenery-chewing villains go, Waititi finds this perfect balance between being extremely funny and goofy to completely deranged and crazy, in my opinion, this is what the Ready Player One villain should have been like. Who would have thought Hitler from Jojo Rabbit would make a perfect corporate villain? 

            The video game references, while there are a lot more downplayed than in other movies revolving around video games. There are a few callbacks such as a scene where Guy gets a power-up and his hand transforms into Mega Man’s arm cannon and various Disney references thrown in such as the music from the Disney animated short, Paperman by Christophe Beck (Who also composes the music for this!) playing in a couple of scenes. 

            Free Guy is the rare modern summer blockbuster that doesn’t revolve around cinematic universes or franchise building, but instead offers a smart, funny, and very original adventure in the virtual world with a charming Ryan Reynolds leading the way. It just goes to show that sometimes you don’t need a skintight costume with electrified bracelets and cinematic universes to make a great summer blockbuster, sometimes all you need is just a “Guy” in a blue shirt.

            CATCHPHRASE! 

Washington State Summer Con Again 2021 Recap