Still worth seeing, despite the changes

Rating: 7/10 (1 June 2018)

Yes, there are a lot of changes from the book. Filmmakers have no choice in that regard, so this shouldn't be a surprise to savvy film-goers.
Over all, I felt that most of the changes were pretty good. Some even handled scenes a bit better than the book did. I felt that the book made too big a deal about Aech being a black girl. Why would that be such a shock to Wade anyway? Thankfully, the film handled that better and just had him acknowledge right away that Helen is Aech, is his friend, they're in danger, and they'd better run -- quick!
Certainly I was sad to see quite a few references disappear, including: Dungeons of Daggorath, all of the music by Rush, the Joust challenge, War Games references, etc.... At the same time, I completely understand the reasons for changing those references since -- lets face it -- how many people in the general public today even know what Dungeons of Daggorath is?
Thankfully, most of the references that were 'removed' still appear here and there in the background for observant people to spot. It was nice to see a functioning ColecoVision in the scene near the end of the film. And there's a Rush poster on the wall in that same scene.
There are people on IMDB whining about how the movie is packed full of pop culture. Well, here's news to those who haven't figured it out yet: The book and the film ARE pop culture. They're cans of pop culture that happen to have a label that reads, "Ready Player One." If you're expecting something other than that, then you're too confused to write a review that's relevant to the film.
On a more technical note, this film is shot well, effects are quite good, and the pacing is pretty quick. The tasks that characters take on have changed a bit from the book. When Art3mis was captured, I was afraid that it was going to turn into a 'damsel in distress' cliche. However, her escape was more of an assist, with Samantha having the guts to take the risks required to shut down the shield (although that kind of 'borrows' from Star Wars part IV).
The acting was good, with Simon Pegg and Mark Rylance both doing an exemplary job. And although he doesn't appear in the book, T.J. Miller's I-R0k turned out to be my favorite character. He helps make up for the omission of the Lich.
Another fun addition is the segment from the Shining. I dare say their representation of The Shining is actually better than Kubrick's. They even went as far as to add a scene that Kubrick's film sadly left out. It was nice to see it included here, and was a subtle and clever way to reveal an aspect of Helen's character.
For those who so wanted more of the build-up that the book had, consider that such a long arc would have been plodding and slow cinematically. That's just the way it works in film. I'm sure that would feed the flame of those reviewers that somehow found this film to be boring. How that's possible is beyond me. Perhaps there's a subset of the population that needs to stare at strobe lights 24/7 while listening to three soundtracks at the same time in order to be entertained. If that's the case, perhaps they should consider themselves to be outside the bell curve and keep their comments to their own clique..
Sorrento was a bit of a departure from the character in the book -- to the point where he looked like he actually sympathized with Wade at the end of the film. This is something that I don't buy at all and feel that he should only have hesitated because the police were there and not out of any sense of morality or nostalgia. I also didn't really like the use of his first name so often in the film (since his first name is the same as Nolan Bushnell's and almost sounds like it's trying to frame Nolan as a video game villain whereas the real Nolan of video game pop culture was quite the opposite and someone that we can thank for helping build and shape the video game industry that gamers enjoy so much). So I suppose there's the good Nolan of the real world and the bad Nolan of the film.
In contrast, the use of Ogden Morrow as the Curator was a clever touch and one that worked quite nicely. It still gets the quarter into the main character's possession and -- at the end of the day -- has the same effect as in the book.
In conclusion, this is different from the book but still entertaining. It mixes 80s references with those of the 90s and today. In the process, it still caters to geek culture (which is what it's supposed to do). It's well-presented and keeps a decent pace. There are a few depictions of characters (like the head of IOI) that seem a bit off. However, it's close enough.