Special Review

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In 2010, aspiring author Ernest Cline sold the rights to his first novel, Ready Player One, to Crown Publishing Group. Not long after, Warner Bros. bought the film rights before the book was published the following year. Cline wrote the original screenplay, Eric Eason and Zak Penn handled rewrites, and Steven Spielberg was hired to direct. After a lengthy casting process, principal photography commenced in June 2016, mainly in Birmingham and Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden. Thanks to Spielberg’s reputation, many of the pop culture references featured in the book were brought into the movie. Filming wrapped in September 2016, and ILM, Digital Domain, and Territory Studio handled the visual effects and post-production. The film initially had a late 2017 release but was delayed to avoid competition from Star Wars: The Last Jedi. After premiering at South by Southwest, Ready Player One hit theaters in March 2018.

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Rating

Synopsis

It is 2045, and people are escaping reality by entering a virtual reality program called The Oasis. Created by James Halliday (Mark Rylance) and Ogden Morrow (Simon Pegg), what started as a game quickly became a phenomenon. Unfortunately, Halliday passed away but left three keys hidden in The Oasis, leading to a golden Easter egg. Whoever found the keys and got the egg would win total control of The Oasis, but people lost interest. That is except for a few passionate egg hunters, aka “Gunters,” and rival tech CEO Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn). One of these Gunters, Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), finds the first key, which paints a massive target on his back. He soon finds himself in a rebellion led by fellow Gunter Samantha Cook (Olivia Cooke) to take down Sorrento. With control of The Oasis at stake, will our heroes succeed, or will Sorrento claim it for himself?

 

Review

Before going further, I will address that I haven’t read the book, so I don’t know how the movie compares. That said, Ready Player One has plenty going for it, and it’s easy to see why some people enjoy it. It’s got some exciting world-building, the characters are likable, and there’s a charm to seeing all these pop culture references. Unfortunately, once you strip all of that away, you’re left with a pretty bland story you’ve seen done before. The characters are all stock archetypes, the plot devolves into a “chosen one” narrative, and there’s nothing unique here. There’s nothing inherently wrong with using familiar stories and character types, so long as you make something different. Star Wars is a perfect example of taking tropes and ideas from other media to tell a unique story. Aside from the video game angle, this has nothing unique to offer.

To get into some positive aspects, I thought the performances were generally strong despite lacking substantial material. Tye Sheridan makes for a decent, relatable, and sympathetic lead, especially as the film progresses. Though his scenes are brief, Mark Rylance has an innocent charm that makes him feel more human. Simon Pegg is enjoyable as always, and T.J. Miller is funny in his role as i-R0k. Also, while some of the visuals haven’t aged as well as others, there are some decent-looking digital effects. Alan Silvestri’s score fits the action well, though it sounds like his Back to the Future score. Steven Spielberg’s direction is on point, as always, though the film lacks some of his usual style. Oddly enough, the scene that felt the most like Spielberg was towards the end when Parzival meets Halliday. Sadly, that’s where most of my positives for this movie end.

While the rest of the cast is decent, many are either forgettable or repeats of previous performances. The worst example is Ben Mendelsohn, a great actor, whose role is more or less the same as Rogue One. While most references are relegated to the background, it gets annoying when the movie blatantly tells you the reference. In particular, when they mentioned The Shining, Buckaroo Banzai, and Child’s Play, I wished I was watching those movies instead. This movie should not be two hours and twenty minutes long, especially with all the unnecessary padding. Sure, it has an action-packed climax, but I was waiting for everything to end by then. I wouldn’t call this one of Spielberg’s worst movies, but it’s a far cry from Jaws or Schindler’s List. Overall, Ready Player One has some surface-level enjoyment, but it won’t leave much of an impact.

 

Buy Ready Player One from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3AniUMA.

Disclosure: The above link is an affiliate link, which means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

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