When it comes to huge popcorn movies, Steven Spielberg is the master. Basically creating the “summer blockbuster” with his 1975 hit Jaws, thus followed a film legacy of epic proportions full of pop icons, cinematic masterpieces, and game-changing special effects. When it was announced that he would be directing Ready Player One, based on the novel of the same name by Ernest Cline, it made sense. Here Spielberg uses all his amazing talents to once again prove there’s a reason he is the master of the popcorn flick.
We follow the story of Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), who lives in the year 2045. The world is on the brink of chaos and collapse, and the people have found salvation and freedom in the OASIS. The OASIS is an expansive virtual realty universe created by the brilliant but eccentric James Halliday (Mark Rylance). When Halliday dies, he leaves his immense fortune to the first person who can play his game, and find all his Easter eggs he hid somewhere in the OASIS. Wade makes it his mission to win the contest. Along the way he meets his clan, his friends in the OASIS, joins a rebellion, and tries to save the world for the betterment of mankind. All being done to a kick-ass nostalgic 80s soundtrack.
The movie lays way heavy into your personal nostalgia towards all things 80s, from the movie references, pop icons that cameo, and even the music that’s being played in almost every scene. If you love the 80s, video games and pop culture, this is the movie for you. It’s a no brainer that Spielberg directed this. Seeing as he has personally created some of the greatest pop culture icons of the last 40 years, now we get to see him play with all his toys in the box, and with so many others. The film is so Meta it hurts in a good way.
Like most Spielberg films he uses only the best special effect technology. Here is another prime example of just how far the digital artists can push themselves. When the characters enter the OASIS it is nothing but a fantastical CGI feast. Everything is bright, colorful, sleek and beautifully animated. Every little hair, clothing, skin and even the eyes look so real you swear you were also in the OASIS. The motion capture work is near perfect. Film really has gotten to the point where motion capture is now normal and pretty much perfected. The fight scenes in the movie are so good due to the great effects and the direction by someone who understand the medium perfectly.
If there was one major flaw in the film it would have to be the lack of character depth or development. No fault of the actors, they all turn in good performances. Tye Sheridan plays our lead hero of Wade, and he does passable job. It’s a shame he is the weakest character, being our main hero. Olivia Cooke plays Art3mis, a famous player who works with various allies to ensure the OASIS is kept free and out of the hands of IOI, the big bad corporation that wants nothing more than money and control of the people. Out of all the characters with weak depth, she is the best: the actress and the character are great, and she has some great fight scenes.
The main issue with the characters is that we’ve seen these types of characters in many other films, and a lot is left up to you as the viewer to put the pieces together.
Ben Mendelsohn is the main villain for the movie. Playing Nolan Sorrento, the CEO of Innovative Online Industries, he seeks full control over the OASIS. He’s your standard corporate-boss-that-sits-in-an-office-twirling-his-mustache villain. He barely gets his hands dirty himself, having others do it for him. Mendelsohn is great at being this character and you hate him for it by the end of the movie. His main henchmen in the OASIS is i-R0k, played by T.J. Miller, a freelance weapons / magic item dealer and bounty hunter that is often employed by IOI. Another character you can infer all the information and background, but at least his lack of depth is fun, because he’s the bad guy. You know who he is and what he wants. He was a joy to watch.
The soundtrack to the movie is epic and full of the best songs of the time period giving all the feeling and all the nostalgia: some of the songs work great, other not so much. It was almost like we’re listening to our dad’s playlist full of just the greatest hits, but not really good songs. Most of the songs are noble and work, but then there are times when they feel like they were just picked because they were cool but don’t fit the narrative of the scene. Some of the songs throw off the vibe of the scene, where other songs would have been worked better, but this is really just personal preference.
The amount of pop culture references in this movie is so overwhelming, you’d have to see the movie multiple times to catch them all. Due to the movie being a Warner Bros film, the filmmakers make major use of the WB catalog of IP characters: Batman, Superman, and other DC Comic characters. But then we get fun cameos from Mortal Kombat, Overwatch, Back to the Future, God of War, and even Spielberg’s old movies themselves. It’s really fun to see who you can spot and know. One of the first major action scenes is this great car race. The whole scene is like a massive love letter to Spielberg’s films and the like.
The best part of the movie is where our team of heroes has to travel into the 1980 film, The Shining. This is an amazing part of the movie. Spielberg has always been vocal of his love of Stanley Kubrick so for him to recreate the movie and play with its themes was a joy I’m sure. Cause it was a joy to watch.
Overall the movie is great and way entertaining. It’s the personification of what a “popcorn movie” should be, and it’s helmed by the master himself. It’s fun, funny and full of heart. You definitely leave the movie with the feeling only a Spielberg movie can give you. And that’s really what’s it’s all about.
