More than meets the eye

Rating: 9/10 (9 April 2018)

In the seventies, women were into sharp-dressed revolutioners. In the eighties, athletic types became more and more popular. Throughout the nineties, ideals became more material and people with beautiful and fast cars would attract people. Nowadays, geeks are all the rage. Twenty years ago, those people were outsiders because of their chubby features, big glasses and strange beards and because they spend most of their free time in front of their consoles in their parents' basement, wearing Mario Bros. shirts and drinking Mountain Dew and eating Cheetos. Today, these outsiders have become trendy because of their chubby features, big glasses and strange beards and because they spend most of their free time in front of their consoles in their parents' basement, wearing Mario Bros. shirts and drinking Mountain Dew and eating Cheetos. Sometimes, this world is a strange place. In order to understand more about this stereotype and pimp my trendy knowledge, I decided to give Ready Player One a shot.
I didn't expect much but got a very rewarding surprise. Ready Player One avoids stereotypes as opposed to my somewhat exaggerated yet quite accurate introduction. This movie could have focused on great-looking main characters who are destined for each other. But this isn't Divergent. The movie could have been overacted with overtly dramatic emotional ups and downs portraying immature teenagers. But this isn't The Hunger Games. The movie could have overwhelmed us with eye candy in form of massive flashy special effects without any depth. But this isn't Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. The film could have had a quite emotionless plot without any interest set in a stereotypical dystopian world. But this isn't Ghost in the Shell. The movie could have felt quite stretched with its ambitious running time of one hundred forty minutes and included vapid lows throughout the middle section. But this isn't Blade Runner 2049.
Ready Player One is better than all the movies mentioned before. The two main characters are grounded and sympathetic which makes their love story surprisingly credible and emotional. The acting performances are balanced as the characters are sometimes overwhelmed by emotions but often have to use their intellect to solve problems. The only moment when the movie overwhelms us with flashy colours is in the first five minutes to briefly introduce the virtual reality of OASIS but the rest of the movie doses special effects very well as the movie balances calm and intellectual moments with dramatic and vivid passages. The plot centered around a massive treasure chase might not be revolutionary but includes numerous clever references to pop culture of which I particularly liked the setting of The Shining, the nod to Mechagodizilla and the allusions to progressive rock veterans Rush. Moreover, the movie has several interesting messages such as the fact that nothing is as magic as our own reality. I also liked the side characters, especially the unique inventor of OASIS who reminds me of a mixture of Olaf Schubert and Tommy Wiseau. Finally, the movie didn't waste one single minute and was entertaining from start to finish thanks to an already interesting novel this movie was based upon, outstanding scriptwriting efforts and very solid directional work.
In the end, I can only recommend watching this movie at your local theater. You don't need a distracting, expensive and headache-inducing 3D version at Cineplex though, just go along with the old school 2D version in your small local cinema. It would suit the message and intention behind the novel and film much better. Now I can realate much more to geeks with their chubby features, big glasses and strange beards who spend most of their free time in front of their consoles in their parents' basement, wearing Mario Bros. shirts and drinking Mountain Dew and eating Cheetos.