A product of the Hollywood machine

Rating: 6/10 (31 March 2018)

Ready Player One is a decent book. It has some flaws, but overall it works as an '80's nostalgia trip and a good read. Ready Player One is a bad movie in terms of being a movie, an atrocious adaptation, and fails even as a vehicle for '80's nostalgia. There are more easter eggs, shout outs, and throwbacks for people born in recent years than there are for people who grew up in the 1980s. The plot is as formulaic as anything ever produced by Hollywood. It is distinctly and safely structured to be everything the audience has ever seen before, to the point that the end result is dull. A good adaptation will keep what works and fix what doesn't. This movie changes everything regardless of its functionality, and the result has so many gaping plot chasms and is so devoid of charm it's a wonder if Steven Spielberg and company wanted to make this adaptation at all or if they were being forced to fulfill a contract they signed in years past. After having seen this on the big screen, I wish I had waited for it to come to Netflix. It's not even something I would want to own and have on my movie shelves, while I could have the book on my book shelf and be okay with that.