Talk about an unabashed amount of fun for a non-IP blockbuster.

This film is an ode of sorts to the meticulously (and dangerously) performed stunts in the film industry, and it is another balance of showmanship and mechanics courtesy of director David Leitch. Leitch keeps the hits coming; he’s like the modern-day Michael Bay but dances with stronger storytelling beats and wiser humor to keep the action humming. The stuntwork here is magnificent, pulling a deep bag of tricks out of the filmmaker’s arsenal, dating back to his directorial debut with John Wick and some daring takes with Atomic Blonde and Bullet Train. (Admit it, the dog’s intervention alone had some scrambling to think they’d pull the trigger on that element once more.)

But, there has to be another pulling aspect to this feature, not a mere exercise into seeing which talent will defenestrate the following outside another glass window or vehicle. Enter Ryan Gosling. He oozes that peak Burt Reynolds while giving a magnetic performance as our primary stuntman, Colt Seavers. Colt is a seasoned veteran, a dude who takes pride in jumping out of helicopters to becoming set on fire for another explosion on set. He acknowledges he might have his movie fantasy at the start, having a colleague named Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt) as his girlfriend and getting to celebrate his work. Unfortunately, a stunt gone wrong takes eighteen months off Colt’s life, forcing him into a depressed valet guy. He gets recruited by the producer Gail (Hannah Waddingham) to return to the extensive set. However, an awkward reunion with his former lover and arrogant international star Tom Ryder (Aaron-Taylor Johnson) has gone missing, leaving Colt to continue crashing through more windows to resolve these matters.

Blunt gets to shine with her comedy muscles and some emotional attachment, no part in stating the obvious metaphor of her crumbled relationship with Colt onset for her upcoming blockbuster Metal Storm (a big-budget about a cowboy and alien’s romance ends rapidly). Her chemistry with Gosling is outstanding and carries the feature through its crucial moments. Johnson becomes a discount Matthew McConaughey while Winston Duke keeps the action moments rolling as Dan Tucker. There’s an unrelenting amount of fun to be had here, and it keeps a lot of that momentum rolling for its two-hour runtime. Subconsciously, it sometimes feels like a shot toward many soulless, CGI-ridden blockbusters that audiences have started to become irked towards, as the conventional assembly line doesn’t exactly pull numbers any further (ask Marvel and DC’s latest outings).

The action comedy doesn’t miss a bit when it stays more centralized on its daring action sequences and the stellar titular leads’ work. When it regresses into an environment of having to follow this mysterious trail concerning the story, it does become a bit tattered and dangles some loose threads. But it’s hard to quibble over these little issues, as this is another extraordinary outing from David Leitch, Ryan Gosling, and Emily Blunt.

In a day and age where we praise talent’s performances onscreen, what stops us from admiring those who genuinely put their bodies on the line to serve our excitement? The Fall Guy allows us to sing praise to the unsung heroes out there (keep the “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” lyrics by KISS on hand).