A thinly plotted noir that shamelessly cribs from the Christopher Nolan playbook has flashes of intrigue but crumbles under its own influences
Last month’s much deserved swirl of bewildered horror and eye-rolling ridicule at the Frankensequel Space Jam: A New Legacy and its grotesque plundering of IP was also aimed at a worrying future. Things darkened even further with this month’s Free Guy, another film that doubled as “entertainment” and an exercise in brand extension. Both, following in the muddied footsteps of 2018’s Ready Player One, were littered with lapel-grabbingly obvious references to films also owned by the studio releasing each product, as if a click-to-rent button was ready to pop up each time another one lumbered onto the screen. The relatively recent siloing of
Disney, Fox, Warners and Paramount and the almost total stratification of their wares available on uber-competitive in-house streaming services has led to an increased need to brand the studios as all-consuming one-stop crossover destinations. So yes, Bugs Bunny can and will bump into Rick Blaine whenever he damn wants.
Related: The Night House review – Rebecca Hall anchors spooky horror