Free viewers from the train wreck of “Free Guy”
September 14, 2021
In the world of steadily increasing theater premiers, “Free Guy” seems to welcome viewers with a sense of adventure and an ever-rarer originality. The movie, produced by 20th Century Fox, which is owned by Disney, radiates a seemingly great premise. However, “Free Guy” falls short of its promises.
My two main issues with the movie, other than the performances, are the lack of diversity and Disney’s incessant marketing.
Disney, normally a decently inclusive company, took a few disappointing steps back in this movie. The film places Buddy, played by Lil Rel Howery, in the outdated role of Black sidekick, stereotypically doomed to die for the white protagonist. Furthermore, it barely passes the Bechdel test, having an unnamed waitress antagonistically kick Comer out of her coffeeshop. The only other time two women appear on the screen is in a crowd, waving next to each other.
Even if I were able to ignore the deficiency of diverse actors and roles, I refuse to gloss over Disney’s needless cameos in this film. When Guy fights Dude, a supposedly better version of himself, Guy pulls out weapons from Disney’s endless and overused arsenal. First on the spot is Captain America’s shield, and right after viewing, the movie cuts to a shot of Chris Evans watching Guy on his phone. Then Guy punches Dude with a Hulk fist, all while the Avengers theme plays. Guy pulls out a lightsaber, and lo and behold, the Star Wars theme.
20th Century Fox deserves its own projects. They still make movies with their logo at the beginning for a reason— they work in different genres. Disney should not feel entitled to load them up with mainstream references.
Other, well-placed cameos may excite the typical viewer, such as streamers JackSepticEye, Ninja, Pokimane, and more, but there is a place and time for cameos. Those people belong, due to the vibe of the movie. Chris Evans does not.
Dude was arguably the best part of the movie, and that is because his simplicity leaves no room to be upsetting. From “Catchphrase!” to “Friendly gesture!”, Dude’s unfinished dialogue made him funny enough to be the dumpster diving find of the day.
I really wanted to like this movie, but there are just too many unpleasant parts that add up to an insufferable whole.
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Elena • Sep 24, 2021 at 6:11 pm
I agree re. diversity. None of the characters of color had their own stories. Out of the 3, one was the Big Bad, and two were sidekicks (out of the 2 sidekicks one was also not exactly on the side of the good guys). I don’t understand why they couldn’t have cast Molotov Girl or Keys as a POC.