FREE GUY: Fun But We’ve Seen Every Bit Of It Before

Now available on streaming services including HBOmax and Disney+

FREE GUY (Dir. Shawn Levy, 2021)

When movies are overly formulaic they often lead to overly formulaic reviews.

FREE GUY is one such film as it has many critics describing it as THE TRUMAN SHOW meets WRECK-IT-RALPH. Other titles that have been thrown into the premise mash-up are THE LEGO MOVIE, PLEASANTVILLE, and even THEY LIVE. 

After identifying those influences, or direct steals, reviews will move on to the all the pop culture references that are layered through this addition to the stuck-inside-a-video-game premise. The story being that Ryan Reynolds stars as a perfectly content background character (a bank teller in a heist scenario) in a popular interactive Grand Theft Auto-style video game, who becomes aware that his world is virtual. 

Reynold’s Guy (yes, his name is Guy) was clued into this revelation via his infatuation with Molotov Girl (Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer), a leather clad, cool-as-ice biker chick, who is a video game designer named Millie in the real world. Millie, and her programmer pal Walter (Stranger Things and Ozark’s Joe Kerry) had their source code for a game called Life Itself stolen (hey, shades of TRON!)by Taika Waititi as the arrogantly goofy Antwan, an evil CEO of Soonami Studios (I like that name). So our heroes, Guy, Millie, and Walter work together to claim their destinies, and free the cogs of Free City. Or something like that.

Oh, and this is the part of the review that acknowledges the sideline characters Buddy, played by the super affable Lil Rel Howery, who makes the best of his typical black best friend part; and Mouser, Walter’s wise-cracking Soonami co-worker played by Utkarsh Ambudkar. Both guys aid Guy in the game gags department so they are worth mentioning.

But it’s the rapid outpouring of pop culture references that are the real stars here. FREE GUY out-metas Reynold’s DEADPOOL flicks with Easter Eggs involving the MarvelVerse, THE SHINING, Pac-Man, Pokémon, Doctor Who, STAR WARS, Q*Bert, THE MATRIX, Jeopardy!, Rick and Morty, GROUNDHOG DAY, Mortal Kombat, READY PLAYER ONE, and even Diff’rent Strokes, among maybe dozens and dozens of other nods.

The fabric of all of these not-so-hidden touchstones that make up FREE GUY is patched together with so many familiar elements that it’s impossible to imagine the movie holding together without them. When Guy wields a STAR WARS lightsaber in a climactic battle with the arm of The Incredible Hulk in a scene featuring the theme from The Greatest American Hero, it’s supposed to be funny due to the audience’s recognition of these things, but it’s a cheap use of expensive aesthetics that probably only gathers a quick giggle because no clever comment is being made.

I ignored this movie when it was released last summer, as I suspected it was a noisy collection of movie and gamer clichés, but moviegoers lapped it up to the tune of over $300 million. I can understand that as it’s not without its charms as a busy yet breezy action comedy directed by Shawn Levy, whose career is mostly filled with feel-good rom coms, and family-friendly fare.

FREE GUY, even as a derivative amalgam, is fun, at least superficially. It would be more fun if we hadn’t spotted all of the references before, but maybe kids who haven’t seen all the movies, TV shows, and video games that make up its DNA will dig it. Nah, I bet that they’ll even sense that it’s so not its own thing.

And that’s my formulaic review of FREE GUY.

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THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE: The Film Babble Blog Review

Now playing at a multiplex near you (sheesh, it's at 22 theaters in my area):

THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE

(Dir. Chris McKay, 2017)

Will Arnett’s Batman stole 2014’s funniest film, THE LEGO MOVIE, fair and square, so here’s his highly anticipated spin-off, and I’m happy to report that it’s just as funny.

Maybe even funnier, as it insanely packs its one hour, 44 minute running time with as many gags as the filmmakers can stuff into it. And amazingly, just about every one of them land hilariously.

While THE LEGO MOVIE writers/directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller are on board only as executive producers, the screenplay by Seth Grahame-Smith, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers Jared Stern, and John Whittington (all animation comedy veterans) retains their ultra meta sensibility which kicks in from the get go with Arnett’s gravelly voice-over: “All important movies start with a black screen.”

After Arnett’s supremely self-absorbed, cocky, and forever brooding Dark Knight talks us through the studio logos, and opening titles, rivaling DEADPOOL’s laugh-every-few-seconds opening sequence, the film gives us Zach Galifianakis as the Joker hijacking a plane full of explosives. The plane’s pilot, for McGuffin Airlines, mind you, isn’t appropriately scared and reminds the Joker of the many times his evil plans were thwarted by Batman including “that time with the parade and the Prince music.”

This alludes to the movie’s best and most successful idea: to riff on the entire history of Batman. Arnett’s Batman back story calls upon every incarnation of the classic character from last year’s BATMAN V. SUPERMAN back through Christopher Nolan’s DARK KNIGHT trilogy, the Joel Schumacher and Tim Burton versions from ’89 to ‘97, the silly ‘60s TV show (yep, there’s clips of Adam West doing the Batusi), and even the old black and white ‘40s serials. There’s even a can of Bat Shark Repellent from BATMAN: THE MOVIE (1966)!

Batman does indeed thwart the Joker’s latest attempt to destroy Gotham City, who it’s amusing to hear speak in Galifianakis’ Southern accent, but, worse, he hurts his long-time foe’s feelings by telling him that he doesn’t consider him his greatest enemy and that they aren’t “a thing.” This relationship talk satire makes for another great running joke (Batman: “I like to fight around”).

So The Joker devises a new plan involving getting banished into the Phantom Zone so that he can unleash an army of seemingly every D.C. comics villain ever, and many recognizable evil entities such as Gremlins, King Kong, Jaws, and the Daleks (Joker: “British robots – ask your geek friends!”) and take over Gotham City.

Meanwhile, Batman is feeling pretty down and lonely (“One is the Loneliest Number” is on the soundtrack) in his big empty Wayne Manor mansion which is on an isolated island, and it doesn’t help that the new police commissioner Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) wants him to do away with his lone vigilante standing and team up with the police.

Smitten with Barbara, who history tells us will become Batgirl, Arnett’s Bruce Wayne unknowingly agrees to adopt orphan Dick Grayson (Michael Cera), who, of course, will become Robin. Arnett and Cera together makes for a nifty Arrested Development reunion, and they play off each other wonderfully, especially when it comes to how much Batman hates Robin’s short shorts.

Reluctantly, because he’s a loner who doesn’t want to get close to anybody due to how he lost his parents (something every Batman movie has to touch on), our tiny plastic Dark Knight teams up with Barbara, Robin, and his trusty Butler Alfred (voiced by Ralph Fiennes) to save the day.

That involves a trip to Superman’s Fortress of Solitude (cue: John Williams’ score from SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE) where Batman finds out that all the Justice League crew including Channing Tatum as the Man of Steel, Jonah Hill as Green Lantern, and Adam DeVine as The Flash, are having a party that he wasn’t invited to.

The plot is fairly routine, but that’s sort of the point as the whole enterprise is a spirited take down of tropes that are in every superhero movie, and D.C.’s own troubled attempt to form an interlocking cinematic universe aping Marvel’s business model.

THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE’s digs at the failings of MAN OF STEEL, BATMAN V. SUPERMAN, and SUICIDE SQUAD (Jenny Slate contributes a mean Harley Quinn here) are a boon to the film’s smart self awareness.

Even as a comic variation on the character, Arnett’s alternative fact Batman is up there with Michael Keaton and Christian Bale’s interpretations. He’s certainly preferable to Ben Affleck’s take, which is really getting off to a really shaky start (his solo Batman movie seems to be stuck in development hell, with him stepping down as director if you haven’t heard).

A complete success as a wide-ranging parody of the entire Batman movie mythos, and as one of the funniest films in recent memory, THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE is one to take both your kids and your parents to.

For with its intoxicating visuals, and non stop, over-the-top joke assault, it’s the perfect escapism from how surreal the world feels right now. It’s got a great message too, about how we can all overcome evil by clicking together. Something like that, anyway, I was laughing too much throughout to really care about any moral.

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Film Babble Blog’s Top 10 Movies of 2014 (Plus Their Key Lines)

Since the Oscar nominations were announced a week ago, and I’m pretty caught up on all the major, and not so major, movies of 2014, it’s time to list my 10 favorite films of last year (plus some spillover). This time instead of providing a blurb for each entry, I’m going to only highlight a key line, or at least what I think is one of the most memorable, for each movie. Also, unlike in previous year’s lists, I’m listing them from 10 down to 1. Click on the film's titles to read my original reviews:

10. CALVARY (Dir. John Michael McDonagh)

Father James Lavelle (Brendan Gleeson): “The commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’ does not have an asterisk beside it, referring you to the bottom of the page where you find a list of instances where it's okay to kill people.”

9. ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE
(Dir. Jim Jarmusch)

Adam (Tom Hiddleston): “You drank Ian.”

8. THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

(Dir. Wes Anderson)



M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes): “The most dreadful and unattractive person only needs to be loved and they will open up like a flower.”
Also: “I sleep with all my friends.”

7. THE LEGO MOVIE

(Dirs. Phil Lord & Christopher Miller)

Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman): “The only thing anyone needs to be special is to believe that you can be - I know that sounds like a cat poster, but it’s true.”

6. INHERENT VICE (Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)



Dr. Rudy Blatnoyd, D.D.S. (Martin Short): “It’s not groovy to be insane.”

5. SELMA (Dir. Ava DuVernay)



Martin Luther King (David Oyellowo): “That means protest! That means march! That means disturb the peace! That means jail! That means risk! That is hard!”

4. WHIPLASH (Dir. Damien Chazelle)



Fletcher (J.K. Simmons): “My dear god, are you one of those single tear people?”

3. LIFE ITSELF (Dir. Steve James)



Roger Ebert: “Look at a movie that a lot of people love and you’ll find something profound no matter how silly the film may seem.”

2. BIRDMAN (Dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu)

Riggan Thomson as his inner Birdman (Michael Keaton): “People, they love blood. They love action. Not this artsy fartsy, philosophical bullshit”

1. BOYHOOD (Dir. Richard Linklater)

“Never leave your mother’s womb, unless you wanna see how hard a broken heart can swoon.” - Tweedy (from the end credits song “Summer Noon”)

And now, in no particular order, a bunch of 2014 spillover, with a few of their key lines too:

EDGE OF TOMORROW (Dir. Doug Liman) “Okay, first of all, terrific presentation. Just Terrific.”

FRANK (Dir. Lenny Abrahamson)

NIGHTCRAWLER (Dir. Dan Gilroy)  “Do you know what fear stands for? False Evidence Appearing Real.”

WILD (Dir. Jean-Marc Vallée)

THE RAID 2 (Dir. Gareth Evans)

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (Dir. James Gunn): “It's got a real shining-blue suitcase, Ark of the Covenant, Maltese Falcon sort of vibe.”

FORCE MAJEURE (Dir. Ruben Östlund)

A MOST VIOLENT YEAR (Dir. J.C. Chandor)

GONE GIRL (Dir. David Fincher) “We're so cute. I wanna punch us in the face.”

UNDER THE SKIN (Dir. Jonathan Glazer)

JOHN WICK (Dir. David Leitch & Chad Stahelski): “Oh.”

All in all, not a bad year for film.

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THE LEGO MOVIE Clicks Together Into A Supreme Piece Of Entertainment

Opening today at a multiplex near you... 

THE LEGO MOVIE  
(Dirs. Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, 2014)

How did this family film based on a long running line of toys, released in the dumping ground of February, turn out to be actually a lot of genuine fun?

I attended a screening last week of this movie shortly after visiting my sick 16-year old cat at the Animal Hospital so I wasn't really in the mood to see what looked like nothing more than a feature length toy commercial, one in which every single shot could be considered product placement, but very quickly the whole thing clicked together into a supreme piece of entertainment.

Every piece fit especially Chris Pratt's (Parks and Recreation, ZERO DARK THIRTY, HER) extremely likable performance as Emmet, a generic yellow construction worker mini-figure who is thought to be the chosen one to save the Lego universe from the evil plans of Lord Business (voiced by Will Ferrell).

Lord Business schemes to freeze all the various worlds of Lego (The Old West, Cloud Cuckoo Land, Medieval Times, etc.) with the use of what's called “The Kragle” (actually a tube of Krazy Glue that had a few letters rubbed off) on Taco Tuesday, no less.

We are first introduced to Pratt's Emmet in a big busy production number set to the beautifully banal pop song parody “Everything Is Awesome,” written by Shawn Patterson and performed by Tegan and Sara along with the musical comedy group The Lonely Island (the rest of the score by Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh is top notch as well).

This energetically silly sequence sets in place the satire of conformist consumerism of which Emmet is a happy participant - his favorite song is whatever's the #1 hit of the day and his favorite TV show is the stupid sitcom “Where's My Pants?” (shades of IDIOCRACY's “Ow! My Balls!” but PG-rated).

Emmet's life changes when he meets Wyldstyle (voiced by Elizabeth Banks), a punky fighter girl that thought she was the chosen MasterBuilder, which are sort of like the Jedis of the Lego universe.

Speaking of Jedis, there are cameos from the STAR WARS world of Legos including Anthony Daniels reprising his iconic C-3PO voice, and Billy Dee Williams once again putting on the charms as Lando Calrissian, while voice actor Keith Ferguson puts in a passable Harrison Ford impression as Han Solo.

But the major guest appearance that steals the show is Will Arnett (Arrested Development, The Millers) as Batman, a terrific take on the ominous gravel voiced Dark Knight of recent vintage which is pure comedy gold. Every line out of Arnett's mouth made me laugh, and I loved that his version of Batman makes techno music on the side that's supposed to be as dark and brooding as he is - he plays a track he composed entitled “Untitled Self Portrait" on the Batmobile's stereo system (stay through the end credits to hear the whole song).

Also scoring big laughs are appearances by Liam Neeson as Lord Business' two-faced henchman Bad Cop/Good Cop, Channing Tatum as Superman who is annoyed by the man-crush the Green Lantern (Jonah Hill) has on him, Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother, THE AVENGERS) as Wonder Woman, Charlie Day (It's Always Sunny in Philadephia) as '80s Space Guy, Alison Brie (Community, Mad Men) as the unicorn/anime concoction Uni-Kitty, and Morgan Freeman as the MasterBuilder Wizard Vitruvius.

In the movie's amazing climax, Directors/writers Lord and Miller, the filmmakers behind CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS and 21 JUMP STREET, take this Lego adventure to a whole new level with a surprise twist that I won't spoil that takes the heights of comic invention here to comic genius. Again, I won't say what it is, but it floored me and the audience I was in, and I bet when these guys hit upon the idea they were doing cartwheels all over the writer's room.

THE LEGO MOVIE cleverly builds upon the playthings coming to life themes of the TOY STORY trilogy and WRECK-IT-RALPH almost as if they're interconnected blocks with round-peg parameters that it can snap together with. It also has an actually inspirational message about improvising outside of the box, and the self awareness to kid about it (Freeman tells Emmet: “I know that sounds like a cat poster, but it's true.")

I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed THE LEGO MOVIE as much as I did (one only complaint is that they stay too long in The Old West world). During its rich and rewarding 100 minute running time, I was transported away from my worries (mostly about my ailing aging kitty) and had a blast. What more can you want out of a movie?

Postscript: Just in case any cat lovers out there are curious - my cat is doing much better these days.

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