I love Ready Player One. It's so BAD!

Rating: 6/10 (29 March 2018)

First of all, yes, I did read the original novel. And no, I didn't like it. The biggest problem with the book was... well... the fact that it was bad. It was really dull and poorly written novel that got a lot of popularity thanks to how Ernest Cline threw a lot of random pop culture references into it. And I kind of understand that it's cool to find a mention of your favorite stuff from the past in a modern novel. And sure, it's even more fun when there's a lot of such stuff. Retro video game consoles, all kinds of retro movies, tokusatsu, old music... People didn't really like Ready Player One. They liked all that. Their own memories about the good old times. The book itself didn't really matter. So, when the movie adaptation was announced... it was somewhat obvious how it'll end.
And you know what? That's pretty much what happened. Long story short, Mr. Spielberg removed most of the dark and depressive stuff from the original story and made it more friendly to young audience. So, now you can experience the story with your entire family. The movie is much more bright, the movie is much more naïve, the movie is much more romantic, the movie is much more charming. Aside from that, the movie utilizes the same exact concept with the book. Which means, it doesn't really try to be a good and interesting movie. If what you need from the movie is a good story with interesting twists and complicated characters, then sorry, you won't find anything of that here. Ready Player One isn't really bad, though. It's just dull and straightforward. I'm pretty sure they've stopped making such movies ages ago. Remember all those movies about some kids, some villains, chase in the end and happy ending? That's pretty much it. If we'll forget about all that pop culture stuff for a second, Ready Player One can feel almost exactly the same with 1989 movie called The Wizard for example. It's really hard not to compare Nolan Sorrento from Ready Player One with Putnam from The Wizard. Some scenes are some similar that I can't help but wonder if it was done on purpose. The original novel didn't give me such an expression and... well... it's pretty stupid. It's like even the real life part of the story doesn't have its own face. Also, think about it. It's supposed to be a movie for geeks. Did they really think that geeks forgot about The Wizard? The movie is a freakin' icon! And yet, Ready Player One repeats it a lot. Like I said, it's a pretty dull and straightforward movie that feels really dated.
And that's where pop culture comes in. Just like it did in the novel. And it works exactly the same. You won't have time to think about how bad the movie is. You'll be like "OMG! It's DeLorean!". And "OMG! She has M41A Pulse Rifle!". And "OMG! It's the original RoboCop!". Got it? It's just so... cool too see all those characters, weapons, vehicles, video game consoles and other stuff in a single movie that wow effect can actually blind you a little. Up until the end of the movie, actually. Especially if you're watching it in 3D. Even the pop culture part isn't that great, though. Because even that part suffered from some obvious obstacles. Mr. Spielberg sure got a lot of stuff. Even more than was mentioned in the novel, actually. And yet, he was unable to get some things that were very important there. Like he was unable to get Leopardon. Famous giant robot from Japanese Spider-man series. Which is kinda weird, since Leopardon appeared in the American comics during the big Spider-man crossover. Can't believe that he was that hard to get. Especially since they've got Gundam. Which was absolutely cool, but... it was Leopardon that used to give the original text that ultimate geeky feeling. Like you know. Many people don't even know about Takuya Yamashiro, while you're sitting there, hearing "Yeah-yeah-ye-a-a-h, WOW!" in your head. Really big loss for a movie. And not the only one too.
Another big problem in my opinion is the modern stuff. I mean, it was clearly stated in the original novel that creator of OASIS, James Halliday, was obsessed with very certain time period. Naturally, hunters tried to imitate that. And yet, here, during the big fight, in the first rows we see characters like Master Chief from HALO series and Tracer from Overwatch. There's nothing wrong with it technically, but the way they did it totally ruins the mood. Ready Player One was supposed to be all about retro. To have that awesome retro feeling of 70s and 80s. And yet, we see product placement in the first rows. I mean, OK, Blizzard wanted to show off their overrated FPS even more, but in the first rows... no. Just no. There are so many amazing old movies and games... and yet we're watching modern stuff everybody tired of. Come on!
As for what was changed from the original novel... Well, a lot, really. Some characters (even the main ones) were heavily changed, some were completely removed, but I can't say that it really matters. Because, like I said, the original novel wasn't really good, or well-written. Technically, you can change it as you like and you won't ruin anything important. It's not like they've removed Tom Bombadil, or something like that. Actually, I kind of liked how they made people from real world more involved. Felt just right. What I really hated was that stupid message in the end. One of those "don't play your games for too long, kids!" that we usually get from Nintendo nowadays. I mean, what? The whole idea about Ready Player One was that there's not much left on the other side. It's not like it's a story about kids who are way too addicted to their cute little VR game. It's not a story about the VG addiction for Pac-Man's sake! That message was so wrong in every place possible and doesn't even make sense.
Another thing I didn't really like much was soundtrack. Which came out as a big surprise to me, since I expected much more. I mean, we've got some sort of an ultimate crossover here. They're using a lot of popular old songs in all sorts of movies nowadays. And yet, we've got only a few most obvious songs. Jump by Van Halen, Take on Me by A-ha, Stayin' Alive by Bee Gees with its own scene, designed after Saturday Night Fever, and some others. Not bad, but... with so many pop culture references you can't help, but want more. I mean, come on! Soundtrack feels a lot like songs were selected by people, who've read about 80s, but didn't really live back then. It's like making a movie about 60s and using only Elvis, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. I'm really disappointed, even though aside from what we can actually hear in the movie, there's also a lot of visual references.
Anyway, what's in conclusion? In conclusion, Ready Player One is an expensive, but uninspiring attraction for geeks. We've got a chance to see a lot of popular stuff from different franchises at the same place, but honestly, there's no real reason for all that. It doesn't even feel like movie makers really cared. It's like they've just got a lot of rights, mixed everything together and voilà. We've got a movie. Even the original novel tried to make things more useful. In the movie it's just that. The only meaning for copyrighted stuff is the one that movie makers were able to get it. Take The Wizard, threw a lot of random stuff into it, mix and serve. Unlike all the movies and games that were mentioned in this movie one way or another, Ready Player One is hollow. You're supposed to make your own meaning here by remembering your good times with all that old stuff. And it's a really sad thing to see. They had a chance to make a movie that geeks will remember for ages. Instead, they made a one-time attraction. Ready Player One isn't really a bad movie and you'll probably enjoy your first experience with it a lot. Especially with a good company. It's just you probably won't want to see it again. Because seeing DeLorean in the same group with Chun-Li is fun, but still, it's much more fun to re-watch Back to the Future and re-play Street Fighter II. Ready player one fails to deliver and interesting story and, unfortunately, doesn't really capture the true meaning of the pop culture. And it doesn't matter who's to blame here, the original source, of Mr. Spielberg. The fact is the fact. Ready Player One is a one-time attraction.