Mr Cline...WHY?!

Rating: 1/10 (30 March 2018)

MOVIEGOERS: If you read the book READY PLAYER ONE I can't recommend seeing the movie , but if you do I'll see you in the comments lamenting with the rest of us...
Mr Cline: I read your book from cover to cover, loved it, and greatly anticipated the movie. Watching READY PLAYER ONE was difficult because the storytelling felt rushed, most of the 80's references are missing, there are gaps in the plot, and MAJOR characters roles are changed, the screenplay barely resembled the book and it leaves me wondering how you thought your readers would enjoy this vastly different storyline. I respect the process of adapting a book for the screen. It's hard work and not everyone will agree with what you keep and what you cut. It's hard to understand what you did or let Spielberg and Penn do to the movie. The disparity between what I saw on screen and what I read in your book was shocking. I was slack jawed and left scratching my head the whole 2 hours and 20 minutes because I couldn't keep up with all the changes!
I am assuming that getting the rights to use all the 1980's music and movie references from the book would have been exorbitantly expensive, even downright impossible, but why make a movie that drops out so much of what made the book great? It's like you rearranged the furniture in a comfy and familiar room, then shut off the lights and placed the characters inside to fumble and trip all over the place.
I feel so sad saying I dislike the movie because I had high hopes!
P.S. I saw the movie in IMAX 3D so the movie felt immersive and the CGI was great. My friend who did not read the book said she liked it so there is hope for some!