Superficial entertainment by Spielberg.

Rating: 6/10 (31 March 2018)

Ready Player One is based on the Ernest Cline novel of the same name, however the film adaptation is largely different to the original novel. In the year 2045, the world is a dystopia. There is no place for humanity to go, only the OASIS. The OASIS is a virtual reality video game that allows the player to create their own worlds and experience adventures of your deepest imagination. When the creator of the OASIS, Halliday (Mark Rylance) dies. He leaves behind three keys to secret easter egg which are hidden somewhere deep within the OASIS. Any player has the opportunity to find the easter egg and if they do, they inherit all of Halliday's riches and full control of the OASIS. One of the those players is Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), a down on his luck teenager who lives in a gigantic trailer park with his aunt. His opponents are the evil company known as IOI, run by the devilish Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn). I was incredibly excited for Ready Player One. The trailers were fairly vague on the story and characters. However they showed off some amazing references and characters from the 1980s. I was hoping to see another gem in the realms of E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark or Jurassic Park. I hoped that this film would bring back some of that Spielberg magic that I thought was missing in his latest films. I left the theatre satisfied but still yearning for more and not in a good way. The positives first, the action scenes in this film are amazing. They are incredibly thrilling and brought me back to my childhood memories in which the DeLorean from Back to the Future could go up against King Kong. Whenever action hit the screen, the film started to pick up and it was incredibly entertaining and thrilling. One segment in particular was fun, in which the main characters visit a famous film set (won't spoil which). The main story itself was also interesting, where Wade and his virtual friends delve deep into Halliday's life and backstory. Halliday even though his role is extremely limited was by far the best character of the whole film. The idea that perplexed him to create the OASIS is incredibly fascinating. However the rest of the characters really did let me down. Tye Sheridan is a very talented actor, however there are very little emotional grounds that his character Wade hits. I was extremely disappointed by that, a mid act twist really lost me and my connection with his character disappeared. The writing for his character was very basic and I was disappointed by that. Same thing can be said about Ben Mendelsohn as the villain. His character is very similar to Director Krennic from Rogue One. Mendelsohn is always great as a villain, however they are often underutilised and uninteresting. This is why I enjoyed so much in Darkest Hour as he really played against character. The rest of the cast also feels a bit generic and mediocre. The themes feel a little hamfisted (particularly through Mendelsohn). I enjoyed many aspects of Ready Player One, the special effects are simply incredible. One of Spielberg's best looking movies. The score by Alan Silvestri added adrenaline to the story and felt right at home with the subject matter. I thought the story was interesting, but it felt a little thin as I guess Spielberg and the screenwriters wanted to make room for more movie / game references. The characters are underutilised especially Wade Watts. I would definitely recommend a viewing for fans of movies and video games. This can be incredibly entertaining on a superficial surface level viewing. A overall fun and thrilling adventure that could've used some better writing and characters but one I can certainly see myself watching again.