Anyone who has seen the new Ryan Reynolds film, Free Guy, or even one of its trailers, would know that the movie is packed full of video game-related Easter eggs. And while its validity as a true video game movie is debatable, the film itself pays homage to the video game medium in the best way possible.
From the fairly obscure to the immediately apparent, we've scrubbed through the film in search of the very best references. Needless to say, we'll be touching upon spoilers for the film, so make sure you've seen it at a cinema near you before reading this list if you don't want some of the best surprises spoiled. And with that out of the way, what follows are our favorite Easter eggs and references in Free Guy.
7 Fortnite References
There was no shortage of Fortnite references sprinkled throughout Free Guy. The very first frames of the movie show a player avatar skydiving towards Free City. This is an obvious nod to the start of a match in the popular battle royale game, where players skydive towards the game map.
The fictional game of Free City was also populated by several colorful characters and items, much like you would find in a typical round of Fortnite. Fans of the battle royale should also have no problem spotting the very bright and colorful Rainbow Smash pickaxe used as a weapon in the climactic showdown of the film.
6 A GTA-Styled Open World
Another video game that seemed to receive heavy nods throughout Free Guy was Grand Theft Auto, or more specifically, the GTA Online portion of the most recent entry.
Everything about Free City evoked the open-world gameplay of the popular Rockstar Games title, from the chaotic actions of the players running around its streets, to the game's apparent focus on heists and how it seemed to reward players for their participation in them. They even have safe houses where they can store all their acquired loot and stash, with Guy's having a hodgepodge of vehicles that include a horse-drawn carriage and a NASA space pod.
5 Victory Gestures
Free City wouldn't be much of a competitive arena if it didn't allow players to revel in their victories, much like they would in any of today's shooters. So of course we were bound to get scenes where already downed players were taunted.
The film also showed off victory gestures like the floss and orange justice, two dance moves that were made popular by players of Fortnite. The fact that one of those dance moves was being performed by Channing Tatum (who plays the in-game avatar of a Free City player) only made its inclusion all the more hilarious and irreverently so.
4 Celebrity Streamers
A good chunk of Free Guy took place outside of its video game setting in Free City, and some of those real-world scenes were lent a measure of credibility by featuring some big-name Twitch and YouTube streamers.
These included Pokimane, Jacksepticeye, DanTDM, Lazarbeam, and Ninja. All were shown reacting to Guy's in-game exploits throughout the movie, as they addressed their fans on the matter through their respective platforms.
3 Iconic Video Game Guns
The streets of Free City are clearly a dangerous place, with everything from rail guns to rocket launchers seeming to be fair game for players to use in doing battles with one another and unsuspecting NPCs. The Mega-Buster from the Mega Man series even makes an appearance.
But out of all the guns that were on display throughout the movie, there were two in particular that stuck out. The first was the Portal Gun from the video game, Portal, which was used multiple times during the film to create portals for fast-travel purposes. Then there was the Gravity Gun from Half-Life 2, which was also featured in the fight with Guy's muscular doppelganger, Dude.
2 First-Person Heads-Up Display
Fairly early on in the movie, Guy had attained a level of sentience that allowed him to confront one of the numerous players that robs their bank daily. Following a brief scuffle that results in the death of the bank robber in question, he acquires the player's sunglasses (an item that differentiates players from non-playable characters in Free City).
Putting it on immediately revealed a heads-up display. The HUD in question displayed some recognizable video game stats, which included the player's current level, number of accumulated XP, power, stamina, credits, and currently equipped weapon (in Guy's case, a "Harmless Slap"). It even had a minimap showing his current location in Free City, much like the circular minimaps we find in most open-word games today.
1 Disney Power-Ups
During the climactic battle with Dude, Guy had fallen back on some very recognizable power-ups to gain the upper hand. These included a Captain America shield, a Hulk fist, and a lightsaber ripped straight out of Star Wars.
While these are not technically video game Easter eggs in the strictest of terms, the way they were each presented as power-ups speaks to the many video games that feature such unlockable power-ups. It was also nice to see how the film was able to benefit from Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox during its production, resulting in what was easily its biggest crowd-pleasing moment.