Dues Ex Machina - The God definitely is in this Machine.

Rating: 8/10 (29 March 2018)

Spielberg doesn't make bad movies. I had lots of reservations going into this film; I thought the Nostalgia overload would be too much and that it would be pandering.
Firstly, Ready player one looks beautiful - the CGI is brilliant, while it does sit in the "uncanny valley", it fits the world. The story works, from what I understand, does differ from the book in minor aspects, and while there are moments of eyerolling, for the most part, it does exactly what it needs to show the off the world and character's within. Speaking of Characters, I did notice something which may be highlighted elsewhere and of course the characters are more than just their avatars, but in a world full of mysteries and opportunities to be anything, why are the two Asian characters Samurais, and even the worse, the only African American character seemingly in the entire world is portrayed as a troll?
As I said, Spieldberg doesn't make bad movies - the soundtrack is brilliant, the references and call-backs are subtle enough in some areas to work only if you REALLY know specific movies or games, but also obviously enough that even millennials will get enough from it. It does, however, sometimes border insulting to "Gamers" - "Noob" and "camper" are terms thrown about, slightly off to their real world meaning.
I did leave the film with TONS of questions, specifically about the Logistics of the real world / Oasis crossover, it sorts of picks and chooses what to address. In some scenes they flip and twirl in the oasis but you don't see their real life bodys moving, but in others, where they're running and shooting, you see exactly how their movements are mirrored in the real world. Its all slightly confusing. There are also moments of absolute perfect luck and timing, which of course happen in films such as these... people showing up JUST at the right time etc - Dues Ex Machina indeed. It feels the world is built around the main characters of this film, not that they're part of something bigger.
I think if you look for problems with this film, you'll probably find them, but if you sit back and enjoy the ride, Ready Player One has a lot of fun to be had.