Not the story it could and should have been

Rating: 4/10 (30 March 2018)

I wanted to give this movie 4.5 stars but sadly that isn't possible so I am rounding down.
When I first heard news of the synopsis of the movie being leaked and that it was vastly different from the book I hoped they fixed some of the issues the book had. Because even though the book is fun, for it being a book focused on people that actually lived through the 80's it lacks serious depth. I graces the hard issues but never really tackles them (what does being alive mean? Online vs Offline live? What is romance?).
Going into this movie I had hoped they would touch on some of these issues but right from the start things go wrong. It is easy to harp on this movie for not following the book, but at best 2% of the book can be found in this movie. Wades origin story is off. All the challenges have been altered. All he hard hitting moments of sacrifice and taking risks removed. What you are left with is a watered down "spectacle movie" that doesn't make much sense.
Aside from that most of the actual 80's references have been cut. Instead we get pop-culture references (Halo, Gears of War, Track mania, Golden EYE). I can sort of understand why, because they wanted to make it PG13 and the PG13 wouldn't get text based games and 80's references, but it takes away from the entire identity of the book.
The acting is alright although I can't help but feel they completely wasted Simon Pegg's talent. It actually took me a while to even notice he is in the movie all together. All he is is a bland English voice over. A real shame as he normally adds a lot of character to his characters.
Visually the movie is fine. The world outside the Oasis mostly follows the books. The world inside the Oasis is crisp and well rendered. Animations are fluid and facial animations are spot on. This is one of those movies where the 3D is completely tagged on and didn't add anything to the experience however.
Overall I can't praise this movie. It's few clever changes are not enough to save it from mediocrity and the few nostalgia moments will hardly excite the real "nerd". Had they follow the book this movie would have been, like the book, a solid 7/10. As it is now I can't give it above a 4.5/10 in good conscience.