I was ready

Rating: 7/10 (16 April 2018)

Ready Player One was a brilliant movie about the impending digital future. The main setting was The Stacks in Columbus, Ohio 2045. Scratch that. The main setting was a virtual world called the Oasis; Columbus, Ohio was nothing more than the derelict real world that the main character, Wade, lived in.
In this not-too-distant future there is gross overcrowding and real life sucks for just about everyone. No worries because just about everyone escapes this reality to a virtual reality called the Oasis. The Oasis is a virtually limitless digital world in which you can do just about anything and be just about anyone. It is the great escape.
The founder and creator of this world died and left behind an Easter egg that--if found--makes the finder the sole owner and operator of the Oasis. Oh yeah, and they inherit the company worth $500B. No biggie. Of course everyone wants to find this Easter egg but the race for this Easter egg has real world consequences when a rival company will stop at nothing to win.
One thing that made the movie fun and cool was the fact that they were in a virtual world. That's not new or unique but it made the CGI less obtrusive. Because they were in this virtual world you fully expect everyone and everything to look digitally generated which allows you to rate the graphics from a video game perspective as opposed to a movie perspective.
Looking into the overall theme of the movie it was a bit sad though the movie never emitted a somber tone. People were happier spending their time in a virtual world being different people, different beings, different objects as opposed to being themselves doing things in the real world. There is very little that is sadder. The movie Surrogates with Bruce Willis explore this same theme in a different manner.
But going back to RPO (that's Ready Player One, not the football term run-pass-option), I couldn't help but feel sorry for everyone in the movie as they frolicked around their digital paradise. They're lives were so inextricably linked to their avatar and the Oasis that virtual losses made them react demonstrably in real life. That is quite scary!
The truth is we may not be too far from that as a reality. As it is we spend a lot of time in a digital world. Whether it's video games, social media, or other entertainment we are dominated by the digital world. So how big of a leap is it to have an ubiquitous virtual universe where everyone co-mingles? Your brother is in China, husband in Afghanistan, kids in college... no worry, strap on your VR glasses, put on your VR suit and meet with them on the moon, or middle earth or wherever. It could happen. But for now we'll settle for an exciting movie about it.