An excerpt from my script review for Free Guy which will be available 08/23/21:
2.) Plot Stability
This was a well written script.
Was it the best script I’ve ever read? No.
Is it the most original idea in the world? No.
It was well written for two reasons…
First, I forgot I was reading a script because of how natural the story flowed.
Second, in conjunction with the first, I could “see” the story unfold as I read.
This is important when you sit down to write your own scripts. What does it take to immerse your reader in the world you’re creating?
The one word that sums up this particular read…natural.
It worked and read like a movie.
Aside from that, the premise was interesting, forcing us to think about the lives lived of background characters in films and games.
Guy had a daily routine, thoughts, feelings, all of which led him to question if there was more out there.
Now, although it was well written, I did have some criticisms.
The first being that this felt very much like The Matrix meets Ready Player One.
The similarities to Guy and Neo being almost blatant towards the end when Guy frees…Free City.
The second was that the whole “saving Free City” took a back seat to Guy and Molotov getting together.
She tells him she won’t talk to anyone under level 50, so naturally he goes on a spree of crime and destruction to impress her, which unfortunately requires him to hurt and steal from the other background characters like himself.
What I did enjoy was once he made it a quest to save his world from the sequel.
This plot point is introduced on page 36 but he doesn’t actually make an effort to start a revolution against the creators until around page 93.
That’s an issue.
So two points to take away here…
Make your writing flow naturally, allowing a reader to get lost in the world you’ve created.
Write characters that stay true to themselves. If Guy’s supposed to be good and identifiable, keep him so. Don’t make him loot and steal just to impress a girl, especially if that means hurting his friends and neighbors.
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