There's something to be said about entertainment and
its evolution since the late 70s. This, despite what you might be
told by the bygone era, has been a time of strange upheaval in
Hollywood. Gone are the days of thinking science fiction is for the
geeks of our species or that high-minded concepts should be consigned
strictly to the drama genre. And, while its more recent missteps have
become more glaring due to the art of cribbing previous, better
directors' styles, it still remains a not only lucrative but
pro-intelligence branch of cinema. How do authors respond to this
phenomenon? Write a book with as much pop culture that you can cram
into a few hundred pages, add a few future world fears to the mix,
and just roll with your own personal geek love. Shockingly, this
works for Ready Player One in ways I didn't think possible.
Before I begin talking about how awesome this movie
actually is, please know that, if you are a fan of Ernest Cline's
novel, chances are the plot progression won't be something you are
fond of. Gone are the random arcade cabinet encounters, the more
adult-oriented themes, the more-than-a-little obscure movie and
videogame references and, of course, the actual set up to the big
multi-billion dollar contest that takes up the bulk of the novel.
Most of these things have been streamlined down to near oblivion not
only for the purpose of editing (the movie is still 2 and a half
hours long) and for accessibility (no more corporate murder), but
also for the sake of character arcs that the book sorely missed (the
main bad guy actually has a personality this time).
Fortunately, if you can ignore some of your
fanboy-induced hysteria from the book and just embrace the insanity
that is the movie, you will find what can best be described as a
nerd's beautiful fever dream. This is a movie designed not for the
masses but for the poor kid living in front of his Atari 2600 in his
1980s attic and having weird, dancing E.T.s floating around in his
dreams. The characters mostly match up and manage to remain
endearing, the challenges of the contest, though dumbed down, are
still entertaining and the final battle is just as brilliant and
weird as you would expect for something involving the Iron Giant
taking on Mecha-Godzilla to a Twisted Sister song (yes, that actually
happens here). Is young Spielberg somehow back?
As for watching it, yes, do that. Despite being a fan
of the book, even I am hard-pressed to find flaws in the edited down
film version. Sure, you miss out on unnecessary sequences where the
main characters play arcade cabinets for sparkly keys and weird
riddles, but, in its place, you get to see what would happen if you
took a virtual vacation into Stephen King's The Shining with no
previous knowledge of the plot (it might be the funniest scene of the
year so far). Feeling like your not ready for the kind of commitment
to 80s culture this film shovels? Good luck watching Black Panther
for the tenth time.
Stephen Spielberg (every good 80s movie ever) basically
reclaims his position as a nerd director with Ready Player One, a
colorful, bonkers, funny look at what would happen if the people of
the future became obsessed with the 1980s all over again. As the
world dies from overpopulation and inflation of currencies, its
people escape into the online world of Oasis, an MMO-style online
universe whose economy is the strongest in the world. When its
progressive-minded existence (everyone is welcome) is threatened by
an evil telecommunications company, Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) and his
friends seek out a mysterious Easter Egg hidden within the world in
order to gain control of Oasis for its players. Yeah, its really
weird, but its a good weird.
My score: 8/10.
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