Spielberg stuns with Ready Player One

Rating: 4/10 (18 June 2018)

Ready Player One might be the best film of 2018 so far. At the very least, it's the most fun you'll have at the movies anytime soon. Yet it's not without flaws. Spielberg and Cline (who co-wrote the script with Zak Penn) could have given us more real-world exposition at the beginning - as the book did - so we could better understand Wade and the circumstances in which he lives. It's also not as narratively crisp as the typical Spielberg film, especially on first viewing, when the frenetic pace and sensory overload are palpable. But Spielberg is a master editor, and expanding or slowing the story might have added unnecessary minutes to the already hefty 140-minute runtime.