Guy (Ryan Reynolds) lives in Free City and works as a bank clerk. But he will soon discover he is an NPC in a video game when Millie (Jodie Comer) enters the game and turns his head. 

It has taken me some time to decide how to tackle putting my thoughts on this film into words. On the one hand it’s a perfectly enjoyable action movie romp that I am confident lots of people will love. On the other hand it is an extremely frustrating exercise in run of the mill, middle of the road film making that not only misses the mark multiple times but also occasionally hints at far more interesting ideas before swerving them for another sarcastic witticism. 

So let’s talk about the good first and why you absolutely will enjoy the watch. Firstly there are three fantastic performances. Channing Tatum plays a gamer’s avatar and gets to deliver his usual brilliant comic timing and dancing. Taika Waititi delivers a ridiculously over the top comedy performance as the villainous owner of the company that owns the game. Jodie Comer gives her breakout film performance after her hit tv show Killing Eve. Yes I know you want me to say Ryan Reynolds is great to, but at this point he could play this role in his sleep. He will make you laugh, but at this point he could probably do that reading the phone book with his schtick. Elsewhere there is fabulous use of Mariah Carey’s ‘Fantasy’ and lots of stabs at gaming humour, the one that worked for me was characters randomly jumping in the background. As for action it is slick and impressive. So it ticks the objectives of an action comedy by being both funny and exciting. 

So why am I frustrated and in need of caveating a fun film? Well there are two reasons. Firstly it completely blows its chance at having a deeper more interesting storyline and secondly it is awful at portraying video gaming culture. 

So let’s discuss the first. In its set up of Guy’s life there are two film touchstones that come to mind. The Truman Show and The Lego Movie. Guy is trapped in a world where he is playing a part for other peoples pleasure and stuck in a routine that if broken sends the world in a loop. He has a catchphrase similar to Truman Burbank and a routine just like Emmett. This gives them all the opportunity in the world to discuss free will, artificial life or something as simple as stepping outside of your comfort zone. But this is not that film. 

The second issue is that this is supposed to be about video games and video gaming culture. The game is essentially a Grand Theft Auto clone with the sort of popularity and events of Fortnite. But they get so much wrong it is frustrating and worst of all there is an argument that just like The Big Bang Theory this is about mocking the stereotype of that culture, not celebrating it. Even the title is an archaic reference to getting an extra life, a concept that in general games have moved away from. Otherwise the behaviour of the game and how people interact with it is frustratingly flawed with weird logic holes. Someone levelling up really fast by doing nice things, the gamers avatars wear glasses that enable them to interact but there is no virtual reality element and gamers trying to loot other gamers stash houses are but a few. And then of course there is a character who is a grown man who lives with his mum and plays the game all day whilst eating. I just want to scream. 

Finally, in the negative pile are the interludes from real life game streamers and an incredible corporate tie in from the Disney family that leaves a sour taste in the mouth. 

So look, it’s fine. You will enjoy yourself. But this could and should have been better. Not this middle of the road pretence at being a film about video games. If you want to watch something incisive and funny about gaming culture, watch Mythic Quest on Apple TV.