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Rating: 3 out of 5
During the pandemic, I got the chance to read many books. One of the books that I fell in love with and became one of my all-time favorites was Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. I freakin LOVE this book and everything about it. I love the storyline, the whole setting of using 80s and some 90s entertainment points. I love the characters and their interactions together. I just love the idea of the game and book. Holy sugar honey ice tea do I love this book.
I remember a movie made after the book by my all-time favorite director, Steven Spielberg. I couldn’t wait to watch it, but my mom pointed out that it was nothing like the book. In my mind, it was made by Spielberg; how couldn’t it be related to the book. Yes, it would be hard to get all the companies and stuff described in the book, but damnit, it would be so epic and cool.
In 2045, the real world is a harsh place due to economic collapse as the world has gone to shit. One way people get by is escaping to the OASIS, an immersive virtual universe where most of humanity spends their days. In the OASIS, you can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone-the only limits are your own imagination. The OASIS was created by the genius and video game creator James Halliday (Rylance). Upon his death, Halliday laid out a challenge to everyone in the world and the OASIS. He left his massive fortune and total control of the Oasis to the winner of a three-part contest he designed to find a worthy heir. Wade Watts (Sheridan) is a teenage boy who only feels alive in the world of the OASIS. Wade dreams of finding Halliday’s eggs, and when he wins the first one, his life suddenly changes. As he draws closer to finding the egg, he will battle the dangers of other competitors who want to win the grand prize.
Now, my disappointment was high from the start until the actual final battle. Before we get into why this film was a disappointment, let’s talk about the good. I love all the references to 80s and 90s culture. I even got to see my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters, and Jurassic Park along with “It’s a Gundam!” There are so many things to point out, and I absolutely LOVE it. I just wanted to spend hour beyond hour seeing if I could point out every character and reference. This film is literally a dream come true for 80s and 90s people. So excellent job Spielberg for doing your best getting all that in.
You know what you need when you talk about this movie? Music! This film brings out some significant stars like Prince, Bruce Springsteen, a little Earth, Wind & Fire, and other great artists. It could’ve gone even further with a two-hour and twenty-minute film. Pack this freakin movie with some hits song. Let that soundtrack ride like they did in Guardians of the Galaxy.
Let me tell you that when Spielberg wants to show some grand special effects and CGI, the genius comes to play and makes it worthwhile to see. I read that for three hours, three days a week, Spielberg met with ILM, which was in charge of the OASIS segments and produced the bulk of the visual effects shots. An estimated total of 900 shots were used, which is insane. I also read that Spielberg stated that “this is the most difficult movie I’ve done since Saving Private Ryan,” as three 3-hour long meetings a week were necessitated to discuss the visual effects. Thank you, Mr. Spielberg, for taking the time to get all these fantastic characters in one place.
Another thing that I liked was the freakin final battle. My heart was pounding just seeing EVERYONE battle and fight against the evil empire. I love watching the Chucky doll go insane, and just the countless other characters fight. This 15- or 20-minute period was the lone highlight of the whole film, and I was happy to see it. Spielberg brought out all the stops in this scene. You can’t help but cheer.
Okay, now that we got the good stuff out of the way, let us take a few moments to talk about the bad. WTF was this shit!?! Honestly, what was this because it was NOT what I was expecting at all. Zak Penn and Cline, what the hell were you doing? You had the book. One of you wrote the freakin book, and you presented this shit to me. Not only is it like 5 minutes of the actual book, but it was also completely terrible and did a disservice to the book. Fine, I get it. You can’t do everything exactly like the book but come on. First off, what the freak was the first challenge, and why was Artimus and everyone so buddy-buddy? That didn’t really happen, and what was the deal with the car race? That didn’t make any sense and completely threw me for a loop.
Where was any of the other challenges like doing War Zone, that one game in the cave on Wade’s school planet? Holy Sugar Honey Ice Tea, am I getting frustrated because this was NOTHING like the book. Where did the scene from the Shining come from? What the freak was up with this revolution group? That never freakin happened, along with the fact that Wade and his love Artimus didn’t meet in person to the very, very end. Also, Halliday was nothing that I pictured in my head.
Okay, enough of the story because I can go on for a few more paragraphs, and I didn’t even go into full detail. Case in point that it’s not like the book. Moving on, I did enjoy some of the characters. Tye Sheridan as Wade Watts/Parzival was almost what I pictured in my head. He seemed like the character in the book with what I envisioned as his mannerisms and how he does things. Parzival was almost nothing with what I thought of, but hey, that is a movie for you. Olivia Cooke as Samantha Cooke/Art3mis was surprisingly what I actually pictured in my head. I don’t like her character because it was almost the complete opposite of what she was in the book. After the first egg was found, she never really helped out Wade, and they somewhat kept their distance. Changes that I really didn’t like. Ben Mendelsohn as Nolan Sorrento was actually what I thought. I like Mendelsohn. He has really come on in the last few years as a bad guy. He is always this close to greatness.
Ready Player One still disappoints me for how it was made. One of my all-time favorite books, completely changed and almost a different thing. I did enjoy the 80s and 90s references and the music, which was the absolute highlight. Watch this movie, but read the book and let your imagination run wild.
