A Disappointing Adaptation

Rating: 3/10 (2 April 2018)

As a lover of the book, I was very disappointed in Spielberg's movie adaptation. The whole thing felt like a dumb Marvel action movie, and less of a dramatic thriller that takes a deeper look into a dystopian reality of a world that's gone wrong from the poor choices of the human race, and where VR is used as a coping mechanism.
The movie opts to capitalize more on modern pop culture instead of the 80's, although the book states that Halliday, a child of the 80's, had created the OASIS to reflect his own interests. The pop culture references felt like nerd pandering, although you could make the same argument for the book; however, the difference being that the cultural references in the book are used to further the plot, while in the movie, they are oftentimes simple throwaways.
I am perhaps most upset by the character choices and how much of the mystique is removed by revealing their identities fairly early in the movie. The audience is never given enough time to build up the characters and the relationships between them, and therefor it never feels like there are truly any stakes.
The book is told in first-person from Wade, and therefore we are on the journey with him trying to decipher the clues that Halliday had left. This made the book version feel much more methodical an also centered the the story. The film instead has its plot all over the place and much of it doesn't make much sense. (ex. In five years, nobody ever thought to drive in reverse?)
Although typically a cash grab move, I actually feel like the story would have benefited if it was broken up into 2 or 3 movies. This would have given the characters enough time to be fleshed out and actually have an arc. The film feels incredibly bloated and never seems to know what is actually wants to say and why we should ultimately care.
I am curious to see if other people share my same sentiments, especially of those who read the book. I am finding it very difficult to find a review from someone who didn't seem to either somewhat enjoy the movie or downright think it's amazing.