Free Guy, directed by Shawn Levy, written by Matt Lieberman, Zak Penn. Starring Ryan Reynolds and Jodie Comer. USA, 127 minutes, IIA. Opens Aug 13. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

It really is difficult to say nice things about Ryan Reynolds movies. Ever since the affable, snarky actor put his engagingly sarcastic, signature stamp on Deadpool in 2016, audiences have been forced to endure a stereotype — the seeds of which were planted years before in films like The Proposal and Smokin’ Aces. More than anyone currently working in Hollywood, Reynolds perhaps has been pigeonholed most severely. His hot doofus with a witty motor-mouth schtick works in Deadpool or in very small doses (Hobbs & Shaw). Everywhere else (Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard), it’s simply exhausting.

Until now that is. Director Shawn Levy’s much-delayed Free Guy is a comedy romp that works far more than it has any right to. On the surface the elements clang: a video game-inspired, hyperkinetic, candy-colored adventure about living in the real world, with chasers examining what constitutes life and the uneasy relationship between corporate entities and artists. This, for all intents and purposes, should be an obnoxious mess, but Levy and Reynolds dance the fine line between endearing and aggravating and come out on the right side of the equation.

(PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Guy (Reynolds) believe he is a Free City bank teller, but in reality he’s an NPC — a non-player character in gamespeak — in an online open world video game published by Soonami. While Guy goes about his business, game designer Millie (Jodie Comer, Killing Eve) is suing Soonami and its boss Antwan (guaranteed highlight Taika Waititi) for using her code without fair compensation. That code was actually an AI for the game, but it’s grown beyond its parameters and given Guy a consciousness. Guy, Millie and Millie’s former partner Keys (Stranger Things’ Joe Keery) team up to find evidence of Antwan’s theft and save Free City from destruction. From this point on it is all about true love, justice, friendship, appreciating the now and so on. We know this part. 

There is more to the narrative, sometimes too much, but after a thudding opening act the pieces click and Free Guy transforms into a genuinely clever yarn, with some of the year’s best movie jokes so far and a handful of well-placed star cameos.

It’s not perfect, though. Levy, best known for Night at the Museum, displays the same affinity with wanting to pack in more, as he did in that earlier franchise. This time though  the approach is better suited to the milieu. Most crucially, Reynolds’ defining wiseacre persona has found its ideal framework. He is actually charming this time, and as a viewer you feel for his plight rather than wish he’d sit down and shush. 

Notably, Free Guy is one of the best video game movies ever made, possibly because it incorporates the elements that make gaming so appealing rather than attempt to replicate them. For whatever reason, filmmakers have been unable to capture the thrill of a quest game or an FPS on screen. However, Levy and writers Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn seem to “get” it. The biggest strokes of genius may be the way in which the trio balances details that are going to be a treat for gamers with accessible storytelling for all viewers, and pokes fun at gamers and gaming culture without being mean-spirited. That alone earns Free Guy two stars.