Nostalgic fun

Rating: 9/10 (1 April 2018)

"Ready Player One" is probably the most derivative movie of 2018...and that's a good thing.
Echoing director Steven Spielberg's 1980s peak, RPO piles on the nostalgia, with the sci-fi flim chock full of video game, movie, music (an exclusively 80s soundtrack) and general pop culture references, from Atari and John Hughes to Halo and modern-day MMORPGs.
The story is relatively simple: in the 2040s, America is a wasteland, with its citizens spending most of their time escaping to the virtual reality world OASIS. There's an amusing difference between the action of OASIS and watching players - in the real world - pretending to fight while wearing virtual reality headsets. The avatar of creator James Halliday starts a competition - collect three keys to earn the OASIS Easter Egg, with the IOI (Innovative Online Industries) corporation the main villains.
The genius of RPO is the relatively no-name cast (aside from Ben Mendelson, Simon Pegg and "Deadpool's" T.J. Miller) meaning the action takes precedence without the distraction of a big name actor, Spielberg's name alone does enough to generate interest. The references range from fleeting to important (the old Atari games have a vital role in the film's final act) without reaching "Family Guy" levels of self-indulgence. The highlight is a sequence based on "The Shining" movie, with a replica of the film's Overlook Hotel.
Fans of pop culture, Spielberg and fun actions films will love "Ready Player One".