A Badly Paced Mess

Rating: 3/10 (4 September 2018)

I loved this book a lot. I'll get that out of the way right now. It was fun to read and hipped me to a lot of media I still love today. I know it's not great, but it holds a special part in my heart as a book I loved as a teenager. I almost walked out of the theater at least 4 times while watching the movie. The "Welcome to the resistance" line had me out of my seat, getting my coat. I only sat back down to finish it because I realized this trainwreck was probably almost done so why waste 10 bucks.
That being said, I'll try to look at the movie as a movie and not as an extension of the book in this review.
So the movie is really badly paced. It clips from one scene to another at such a breakneck pace it got hard for me to follow at points. As someone who read the book before, it was easier for me to follow for the most part. But my poor girlfriend, with whom I watched this with in theaters, was left feeling like she was always one step behind. It felt like RPO had so much to show me but so little time. It just rushed everything at you so briskly, that you don't have enough time to take it all in.
As for the plot and story, it was either too predictable or just didn't feel right. The plot just seems to happen for the most part, mostly because of the previously mentioned pacing. Things just move from one thing to the next, not feeling very natural or like any sense of progression happens. The only moment that really wowed me in the entire movie was the Shining scene. It was so cool to watch it all play out. It was the only time I really felt like I was apart of that universe or that I was in the OASIS with them. The lead character actor wasn't fun to watch and the girl who played Art3mis was boring as all hell. Maybe she wasn't written well, but it felt like Art3mis was chalked up to "The Girl Character That Likes The Boy Character". The ending felt really hokey and awful. I won't spoil it, but it makes all the hard work that Wade does almost moot in a way. It's really weird that they chose the ending they did.
The visuals were fun to watch, which is the only good part for me. The action set-pieces were a blast to see. Although the constant current media nods and other properties almost jarred me out of it whenever I saw a Spartan from Halo or Tracer from Overwatch walking around. Also the battle scenes were just so crowded with so much stuff, it was hard to focus on anything. It just felt like so much was happening, I couldn't concentrate on anything. But altogether, the visual aspect was a real treat and a standout part of the movie.
All and all, I wish that this movie was so much more. Maybe if they had split it up into three films, one for each key, it would have been better. It would have allowed for a more in depth story and not this blink-and-you-miss-it pacing. I really wanted this to be a good movie, but all I got was just more proof that Spielberg has lost his touch.