Ready Player One Review

Rating: 8/10 (25 November 2018)

Ready Player One is a film directed by Steven Speilberg. I had this film on my watchlist since the film was announced as the plot-line of the film intrigued me. Also, the trailers of the film looked quite promising which increased my anticipation for this film more. After having watched the film last night, I can say that I was satisfied.
Plot: Follows Wade and his group of friends, who have to retrieve an Easter Egg in the Virtual Reality world of the OASIS before Nolan Sorrento from IOI does.
Story and direction: I have been a fan of Spielberg films and it was good to have him back in the zone he is best known for: adventure filled films. This film is a joyride. From the story to the visuals, everything is breathtakingly gorgeous. From the first visual, you can see the meticulous detail Speilberg and his team have gone through to portray the digital and real worlds. I was just in awe. But that's not only it. The story has a message underneath this sparkling and dazzling adventure. Its shown that how people engross themselves in technology so much that they forget to differentiate between what is real and what is virtual. Also shown nicely is the way how people disguise themselves in the virtual world. Some of the pop culture references are just spot on. I can imagine the hard work that must have been endured to ensure this. The make-up work is so good that I believed that the actors were really that age they are portraying on the screen. Janusz Kaminski as the cinematographer is just awesome in his camera work. Michael Kahn and Sarah Broshar have done some great editing. Although I do miss John Williams' score, but that doesn't go to say that Alan Silvestri has done a fantastic job (including bringing back his famous Back to the Future theme). Some places that needed improvement was surely the finale which felt stretched. Due to which I think the length of the film could have been shorter. Also, the villains needed a lot of worked. They were cliched and did not have any specific motive other than just wanting the Easter Egg.
Performances: Tye Sheridan just knocked it out of the park. Same can be said for Olivia Cooke. It was good to see Lena Waithe in mainstream cinema and hope to see her in some other ventures. Philip Zhao and Win Morisaki gave decent performances. It is always a delight to see Simon Pegg. Mark Rylance lived the role he was offered. T J Miller has provided some awesome voice-work in the film. Ben Mendelsohn and Hannah John-Kamen were good but the characterization for their characters was not there, which made them look dull and boring.
Favorite Scene: It would be the scene where Wade and Samantha meet for the first time in the real world. The scene was so beautiful that it is quite difficult to express that in words.
Verdict: READY PLAYER ONE for me is a visual treat and I enjoyed my time watching the film. If big action scenes along with a CGI fest, is your cup of tea, you are in for a feast. Otherwise, I don't recommend the film.
I am going with an 8/10.