Clocking in at just under two hours, "Free Guy" is a breezy,
often uproarious comedy/action film that plays like "The Truman Show" meets "Wreck-It Ralph."
But you may find yourself with some questions by the time the credits roll,
so let's explore what the ending of "Free Guy" really means.
On the surface, Guy seems to have earned himself a happy ending at the end of "Free Guy."
His game has not only been saved, but is being drastically re-written by Keys and
Millie into a world-blending, good-natured open-worlder. Guy is reunited with Buddy,
his best friend who seemed to sacrifice himself for the greater good during the
epic Dude battle down at the shore. Mariah Carey is playing,
his world seems likely to go on indefinitely, and he helped Keys and Millie find true love.
But is Guy truly headed for a happy ending? As Buddy drops his weapon belt one last time to
live in a world without violence, it seems highly likely that any video game allowing
online players to participate via avatar is destined to encounter some level of
hijinks. Whether it's more Channing Tatum-like dudes, or additional bank robber types who will
inevitably try and throw poor Joe through the window of his store again for old times' sake,
it seems quite certain that Buddy will someday have to pick up his weapon again.
Then there's the matter of Guy's very essence, constructed to be attracted to Millie,
finding her every movement, comment and even her favorite ice cream to
be exactly what he longs for in a soulmate. By the end of the movie,
this has not changed. Guy drove Millie into the arms of Keys, giving the duo their happy ending.
But what about Mr. Blue Shirt himself? Is Guy supposed to wander around for the
rest of eternity, burdened by the weight of self-awareness,
unable to find the companionship every fiber in his being was constructed to desire?
"That's her."
'Who?"
"That's my dream girl, Buddy."
It's a weighty question, and one the ending seems to consider a third rail.
Far and away, the funniest character in "Free Guy" has to be Dude — a hastily created,
musclebound ripoff of Guy uploaded to the game in an unfinished form
that has him delivering lines littered with "TBDs" and punctuated by his amazing catchphrase:
"CATCHPHRASE!"
After doing his best to kill Guy during their epic fight,
Dude eventually comes to his senses and joins the good guys in their effort to expose Antwan
for the copyright-stealing baddie he truly is. In the film's final moments,
as all the heroes find happiness, Dude can be seen waving and smiling and seemingly finding
whatever a happy ending looks like in his half-completed consciousness.
But where does Dude go from here? It doesn't seem as if Millie and Keys have plans to
finish Dude and make him a whole person. Guy seems to tolerate Dude as a friend,
but as we see in their last interaction, whenever possible he'd much rather cross the street than
hang out with Buddy. Dude essentially feels like some sort of puppy — enthusiastic,
protective, but able to interact with other beings on only the most basic level.
For years, Keys and Millie have been toiling away alongside one another, unable to bridge
the awkward gap between them — until Free City facilitates Keys' desire to profess his undying
love. By the end of the film, romantic comedy cliches be damned, Millie is running through
the streets after her just-revealed soulmate, eager to embrace and live happily ever after.
But are these crazy kids destined to marry, get a house in the suburbs with
a white picket fence and have 2.5 children? Everything we've seen over
the last two hours shows them to be a very dysfunctional pairing. Clearly,
the two have severe communication issues, spend more time staring at screens than each other,
and have a tendency to connect with people more easily in virtual environments than real ones.
You don't have to be a couples therapist to see their red flags coming a mile away.
The antagonist of "Free Guy" is a spoiled billionaire brat possessing a serious sense
of entitlement and a god complex. Antwan eventually becomes unraveled, desperately
slashing away at servers with an axe in an attempt to destroy Free City (and Guy) before the good
guys can expose him as the copyright-stealing, questionably-talented figurehead he really is.
Then ... well ... his character kinda disappears. As Guy locates the source code developed by
Keys and Millie and has the power to expose their contribution to a worldwide audience,
a deal is struck that will allow them to keep "Free City" (and by extension,
Guy and his friends) alive. Antwan, the film implies, can go off and make sequels,
which probably won't do very well without the creative talents of his developers.
So can it be assumed that Antwan faced consequences for his actions? Depending on how
you read into the "existence" of the NPCs, he may have conceivably killed hundreds of beings — alive
in every traditional sense of the word except the self-awareness granted by Guy's AI,
essentially rendering them similar to pets and other animals. By taking that axe to all but
one of those servers, Antwan wiped out hundreds of NPCs, even by the most conservative estimate.
Did Antwan face jail time for his actions? Highly unlikely,
since the copyright theft was buried and we never see any scenes of police taking him away.
It's easy for the "Free Guy" movie to paint a happy ending where Millie and Keys' idealistic,
Garden-of-Eden-like new take on "Free City" is a big hit video
game that everybody loves — but in real life, would it be a success?
Think about that Channing Tatum cameo. As Guy discovers, it isn't really the movie star,
but some candy-scarfing dweeb who just wants to dance, livestream
goofy stuff to his followers, and blow things up. Oh yeah,
he also wants to look and sound like Channing Tatum, which is why Guy sees what he sees.
Would that player want anything to do with the new "Free City"?
Unlikely. In fact, based on what we saw of the old, chaotic, endlessly violent "Free City,"
very few of the old players would come along for this re-imagined ride. Instead, Millie,
Keys and Mouser would have their work cut out for them as they appeal to an entirely new audience,
convincing them that the very game itself has completely changed.
It would be the equivalent of "Grand Theft Auto" releasing its newest game
tomorrow — and it being like "Animal Crossing." Loyal "GTA" enthusiasts would be in an uproar,
and good luck enticing that new, intended audience after years of
"GTA" controversies surrounding the game's violent elements.
At the end of the film, we see that Guy has become a household name, "Free City" seems to
be more popular than ever before, and there are still plenty of NPCs in this next incarnation of
the game. So it would seem likely that Millie and Keys will replicate their AI experiment
time and again, making more and more self-aware NPC characters with their breakthrough technology.
But would this be a good thing? Would gamers really want to play a game where every single
background character thought they were the main character? On the other hand, isn't that life?
If every NPC thought they were the main character, could you imagine how hard it would be to give a
game any sort of plot, missions, or overall goal? Perhaps you could measure success
in the game the same way some measure success in real life — money accumulated, job title achieved,
etc. — but honestly, at that point, it would probably just be better to turn off the game,
say goodbye to Guy once and for all, go outside, and enjoy the real world.
"Life in the big city. Ain't nothing like it."
Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus,
even more Looper videos about your favorite summer blockbusters are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.