One of the biggest problems with movies these days are trailers. I say that because, well, it sort of kills some of the massive twists that could make the film much better. For instance, having a twists that Guy happens to be an NPC in a online shootem-up would have been pretty good. Then again, I'm not entirely sure if it would have worked out all that well anyway considering that the plot ended up being pretty predictable, and that we were accused of spoilers when in reality we have just pretty much figured out what was going on.
As the trailer points out, Guy happens to be this NPC in an online shootem-up, and he meets this character that he falls in love with. It turns out that the character is actually a PC, and in fact there is more to this character than meets the eye. The thing is that the world is going to be shut down because the company that is running the game wants to upgrade it to a new release, however, as I suggested, something has happened in this version which means they have to fight against having the game shut down.
It was suggested that this film was a cross between The Truman Show, and The Lego Movie, with a number of other things thrown in as well. Actually, this whole idea of living within a world oblivious to the fact that people are watching you is very much like the Truman Show, except that since Guy happens to be an NPC, nobody really pays all that much attention to him, that is until he decides to start leveling up.
This is the catch, because apparently NPCs aren't supposed to do that, only players, however he manages to get his hands on a pair of glasses that reveals the reality of the world around him. However, as I suggested, he actually isn't supposed to do that, so how is it that an NPC is not only able to kill a PC, but also steal the PC's glasses. Well, that comes out eventually, but the thing is that it is pretty easy to actually work out once you know what is going on.
Still, I did rather like this film, even though it wasn't anything that was necessarily original. One thing that it does is that it explores the nature of reality, and also the nature of consciousness (which has probably given a little bit too much away). Then again, this film doesn't dig too much into many of these issues, namely because it is a fairly light hearted film. On the other hand, especially with regards to the nature of reality, there is a lot of Trumanesque in this film.
I thought it was fun, and enjoyable, but then again it is Ryan Reynolds, and I don't mind the odd Ryan Reynolds film, though he can be a little dry at times. Mind you, the innocence of Guy, and also the fact that he goes around doing good in a game that is a less raunchy version of GTA, is rather interesting. Of course, watching all of the violence going on behind the scenes while the NPCs simply wander around isn't too bad, which does sort of sets it apart from the other movies that I have mentioned, however, I can't really say that it is all that original.
Hey, at least the Lego Movie left the big reveal until right at the end.
