High octane blast of pop culture

Rating: Null/10 (13 November 2019)

Based on a novel of the same name by Ernest Cline and directed by Steven Spielberg. Ready Player One is the story of near future where humanity has escaped into a virtual reality called OASIS. The real world is not much to speak of, why would it be when all of us who should be maintaining it are spending all our days having adventures in a land of pure imagination.
And if that isn't commentary, I don't know what is. And yet the film also acknowledges all the good things about OASIS. It is an awesome place, an alluring idea. The very first establishing shot, where we get explained what OASIS is all about, might be one of the most drool-worthy pieces of advertising I've ever seen. I mean, mountain climbing... with Batman. Sign me up!
As for the story, it follows Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), or Parzival as he is known in OASIS, who's one of many hunting for the final Easter Egg left behind by the creator of OASIS. This egg will give its founder full control over OASIS and its riches. Unfortunately, not all those looking for the Egg have the best of intentions.
Very basic story, but that's the kind of world this is, and it fits in comfortably. I have no complaints. Sure, it's very by the numbers and predictable, but sometimes that isn't a problem. Sometimes you're more interested in having fun with something relaxing and familiar than having a completely new and novel experience.
And familiar this film sure is. Spielberg is probably the only director on the planet that could have done this novel justice. Because the whole point of the story is that OASIS is a haven for all of humanity's pop culture. And I mean our world's pop culture. Not something made up, like a Rodent Man instead of Batman. So, if you want to make a movie about this, you have to get the rights to all these characters. And Spielberg did just that.
That being said, while it is immensely cool to have the Iron Giant doing battle royale or to watch Parzival driving around in the DeLorean, the film is also pretty obnoxious in how it uses all these characters. For example, there's this one scene where our two main characters, Parzival and Art3mis (Olivia Cooke), are supposed to have a moment on the dance floor, but suddenly the film cuts to Tracer from Overwatch giving us a thumbs up. And that's not the only instance where something like that happens. Sure, you got Tracer. Good job. But story first, fan pandering second. Okay?
Still, I really enjoyed this film. It's dumb fun, but there's nothing wrong with that and this is one of the greatest love letters to simple, pure entertainment I've ever seen. Definitely a must see film for all geeks, nerds, weirdos and lovers of genre culture.