In a bizarre coincidence, 2021 was the year where we got three big budget, effects-driven blockbusters that revolved around the idea of an intrepid hero trapped in a fabricated reality taking on nefarious corporations and sentient artificial intelligence to rescue the people they loved, and two of them came from Warner Bros.
Sure, we’re painting Free Guy, Space Jam: A New Legacy and The Matrix Resurrections in pretty broad strokes here, but two of those titles have sparked an intense online debate after a single tweet went viral.
As you can see from a selection of the reactions below, both sides of the divide have jumped in to compare and contrast the merits of this year’s star vehicles for A-listers Ryan Reynolds and Keanu Reeves.
There’s an element of snobbery to some of the responses, but one fact that can’t be argued with is that Free Guy scored better reviews from critics and will end up making more money at the box office than The Matrix Resurrections.
On the plus side, pairing the two together would make for a double feature that’s equal parts entertaining and intriguing, even if virtual hands are ready to be thrown by making direct correlations between a pair of popular projects that put their own spin on the technological age.