Ready Player One - Movie Review

When I saw the first trailers for Ready Player One, I had a bad feeling. It look like commercialized, hackneyed Hollywood at her worst. With the second trailer, I began to think "this may be something special." Not every film that is over-hyped misses the mark. In the case of Ready Player One, my first impressions were wrong. It hits the mark. And it is a bullseye.

I love science fiction. I also enjoy post-apocalyptic and/or dystopian films. Dystopian science fiction is a treat. Particularly when it is done right. It is my understanding that the movie rights for this film were secured by Warner Brothers one day after the release of Edward Cline's debut novel of the same name. Cline was tasked with adapting the book to screenplay along with writer Zak Penn. With Stephen Spielberg directing, this film laid a solid foundation for a successful film (or will that be franchise?)

Wade (Tye Sheridan) lives in a dystopian high rise. Not your typical high rise, but rather, a series of aging mobile homes stacked atop each other, fastened together with rigging that is sketchy at best. Like most people living in the dreary world of 2045, Wade escapes his reality by visiting a virtual reality game called OASIS. The oasis is a place where you can be anyone. In Wade's case, he is Parzival, a perpetual gamer who lives for the game. His real world is a bit more bleak, living with his aunt and her loser boyfriend in the stacks, as the stacked mobile homes are commonly known. With the death of OASIS' creator, James Halliday (Mark Rylance) a contest is launched to determine control of the OASIS (as well as Halliday's considerable wealth). Like most people living out the meager existence that is 2045, Wade spends his time inside the OASIS attempting to solve the puzzles and win the game.

Wade has a good friend in the game, Aech/Helen (Lena Waithe) who he generally seeks out when he is in the game. As the quest begins, he ends up befriending additional players who become known as the High Five. The other players are Art3mis/Samantha (Olivia Cooke), Sho (Philip Zhao) and Daito (Win Morisaki). The challenges created by Halliday require a thorough knowledge of pop culture as well as Halliday's own life. A virtual library of video clips contain the knowledge players need to attain in order to solve the puzzles. Wade and his friends help each other along while facing threats inside the game that eventually find their way into the real world. Together, the friends may have the opportunity to create a better future.

Ernest Cline is only slightly younger than me. That makes sense. Ready Player One is a pop-culture-sweetheart-kiss to my generation. The references, music, themes and characters pay homage to the golden age of gaming. The film incorporates some of the most visible cultural images of our generation and manages to cram them all into a single film. At least a representation of them. Generally, I would call that a recipe for disaster. When you try to do too much, it is easy to get distracted. But Ready Player One does it almost as an afterthought. Very little direct attention is paid to many of the luxurious details. From the DeLorean to Chucky, the film is filled with, well...Easter eggs. I guess that is appropriate with Easter upon us. But moreso as the easter egg (treats that are hidden or discretely placed in a film or video game) are a central theme of the film. You have to pay close attention because they are everywhere.

So how does the writing hold up? Very well, I would say. There are several characters important to the story, yet we manage to get a decent amount of character development. The film is built around a quest that happens within the game as well as action in the real world. The writers deftly navigate between the two without getting bogged down. The film covers a lot of ground, but manages to feel epic at two hours, twenty minutes without bogging down. The pacing was excellent with a nice narrative arc. If there were a fault with the pacing, it would be tying things together at the end. The ending seemed to drag out just a bit too long. But overall, the writing was spot on.

Tye Sheridan first hit my radar with his exceptional performance in the film Mud. He carried that film. He is joined by several other actors I really like. Simon Pegg being among my favorites (when are we going to get another Pegg film? I love that guy's warped sense of humor). I liked Olivia Cooke in the film Thoroughbreds. She was solid in this film, although I wasn't fully buying the chemistry between her and Sheridan. Ben Mendehlson was typical slimy bad guy material. He delivered in the role. I remember first watching him in A Place Among the Pines and enjoying his performance. There were some actors unknown to me in this film as well. They had smaller roles, but as a whole, were all solid. There weren't any performances that felt flat to me.

I'm dwelling a bit on the look and sound of this film. Because this film delivers the looks and sounds of my younger years. The soundtrack was an excellent blend of 80s music, starting out with VanHalen's Jump and cycling through some of the most memorable (if not the best) songs the 80s had to offer. I mentioned that the look of the film packed a lot in. But I neglected to mention the actual look of the film, which was phenomenal. The CGI was spot on, creating rich, intricate scenes that were virtual eye candy. The OASIS was a visual delight. Plenty to absorb. I rarely watch a film twice. This is one that is so laden with Easter eggs that it begs a second viewing. With Moviepass, why not? I may have to go back for a second helping.

Ready Player One was given a reasonable PG-13 rating. They kept it fairly clean. While there is plenty of simulate violence, the gore factor was minimal. There was some language and suggestive material, but the film played it straight. In one throwback scene, a naked lady exits her bathtub. Keen camera angles and carefully placed objects prevent any nudity. While the film has plenty of violence, it is contextual. Overall, this is a film for the family, as long as younger viewers aren't easily scared.

Ready Player One exceeded my expectations. The fan-boys out there might be on the 10/10 bandwagon. I though it was solid cinema. I loved the references, I loved the characters and I loved the visual appeal. It was so visually rich, you are bound to miss a lot of details with only one pass. The story was fairly original. It was fairly predictable, but it was unique. It was a dystopian tale with hope. It was a memory montage. It incorporated many cultural icons into a single consciousness that never become laden in spite of the information overload (or length). This film deserves to do well at the box office. But I think it may have a niche following. I guess the box office results will ultimately tell that tale. This one is worth seeing. 8/10.

Photos and trailer subject to Copyright by Warner Brothers Studios.