Escape to the Oasis

Rating: 8/10 (29 March 2018)

Ready Player One is a tough movie to critique. For one thing, it is far from perfect and if one really wanted to I could sit here and just tear the narrative apart. But when a movie is based on a book, especially one as popular as Ernest Cline's novel, you have to wonder how much of the story's flaws rest with the filmmakers and how much rest with the source material.
RP1 takes place in the near future where social media and online interactive gaming have taken the next leap. Most people spend massive chunks of their time plugged into a virtual reality world where they can be and do whatever they want; real human interaction quickly becoming a thing of the past. The good thing about this concept is that it is relatable. Cline's future doesn't seem that far off given where we are currently. This virtual world known as the "Oasis" is jam-packed with pop-culture references from the last thirty years, thanks to its creator's obsession with popular movies and videogames. When the creator, Halliday, dies, he leaves a treasure hunt of sorts in his virtual world with instructions that whomever can solve the puzzles and clues and find his hidden "easter egg" will inherit his massive fortune and control of the Oasis (think Willy Wonka but more complicated). Our protagonist, a young man from "the stacks" (think futuristic trailer park) is close to finding it with the help of his friends, but a greedy and ruthless business man will stop at nothing to find it first, hoping to use control of the Oasis to force more advertising on its users and bleed them dry, be it financially or with information.
That is all I will spoil about the film's plot. Just know that you will be faced with an onslaught of pop culture references and figures that for the most part are an absolute joy. The main issue with RP1 is that while what takes place in the Oasis is a a blast to watch, the scenes that take place in the real world are a bit of a bore. Now you would expect the virtual reality to be more exciting than reality, it's supposed to be. But the events that occur in reality involve actual life and death situations and I just never felt really invested in them. The peril that was there was rushed and the characters weren't really developed enough to feel emotionally connected to them. There is also a flawed villain on display here. Ben Mendelsohn can be so good at vile and menace. But here his character is so uneven. One minute he's determined and diobolical and the next he's a bumbling idiot. There is also a scene where TJ Miller's avatar, I-R0k, sits down next to some young women in a club and makes them uncomfortable and frightened. The scene isn't really necessary to the movie and given the recent accusations against Miller in real life, it makes you wonder why it wasn't cut. Anyway, not a big deal, I just thought it was odd and I'll be surprised if no one else notices it.
Now the good stuff. This movie is a visual and audio feast. The race scene near the beginning is so fun and intense and loud (in a good way). The majority of the movie is packed with color and style; it manages to be fun and trippy at the same time. (I don't get high, but I would wager the people that do will have a blast watching this in such a state; not that I'm condoning such an activity.) And there's so many references flying at you the whole movie. Batman, Willy Wonka, Halo, Terminator 2, King Kong, Chucky, Iron Giant, Back to the Future, Ninja Turtles, and that's just some that I thought were neat; not even scratching the surface of what fanboys will be obsessing over when talking about this movie. There is an entire sequence devoted to one of Stanley Kubrick's classic films here (I won't spoil it), and it is genius. However, I will warn parents that I felt this scene was a bit scary for younger viewers, particulary since most of them won't understand what is being referenced.
And therein exists a problem with RP1's appeal. It didn't really occur to me until I was having a conversation about the movie with the son of a friend of mine. He's usually super-excited about all the big superhero and sci-fi movies. I asked him a couple weeks ago if he was looking forward to RP1, and his response was "Neh, not really. Maybe I'll watch it when it comes out at home." And thinking about his response, and now that I've seen the movie, it really does have a narrow demographic. The movie's narrative isn't always strong enough to appeal to moviegoers just looking for a good adventure film. The real appeal of the movie is seeing all these great references to past entertainment. The references are too old or obscure for young audiences. And the movie is too frantic and uneven for senior audiences. The real demographic for this film are nerds between 25 and 55. It's a big movie-going demographic, so it should do well financially. But it does speak to limitiation inherent in the film, that due to its source materal, really couldn't be avoided. On the other side of that coin, it could be seen as a good opportunity for parents to introduce their kids to the entertainment icons they grew up with. Then they could say, "Remember that cool car he was driving? How about we watch Back to the Future at home so you can see where that came from?"
Technically everything looks sounds good from top to bottom. I could pick on a couple of cinematographer Janusz Kaminski's odd choices, but shooting a movie of this scale isn't easy and it can't all look perfect. Another thing I didn't care for is it seemed that every time another pop culture icon appeared, one of our "original" characters had to point it out. "There's Kong", "Ahh its Chucky", "Hey look, Batman", that type of thing. Part of the enjoyment of a pop culture reference in a movie is knowing that you "got it" and perhaps not everyone else in the audience did. It just feels a little insulting that the filmmakers felt we needed so many of the references pointed out to us.
I know a lot of this review sounds negative. But that's only because it is easy to describe the things I didn't care for without spoiling important plot points or fun scenes. If I were to dive deeply into the things that had me grinning from ear to ear throughout much of the film, I'd have to get into major spoiler territory, which I refuse to do. Just know that Spielberg's latest is a wildly entertaining movie that is meant to be seen on the largest screen possible, and in 3D! I know there is a lot of debate about 3D in cinemas today, but believe me when I say that RP1 was designed to be seen in 3D. In said format, on a proper screen, it is a truly immersive experience.
Some movies are just meant to be entertaining. They're not meant to be picked apart and over-analyzed. Just go to the movies and have a good time. I can't imagine anyone, particularly in the age demographic I described earlier, not at least enjoying themselves at this movie. 8/10.