Review #1,362: 'Ready Player One' (2018)

When I was kid and the Super Nintendo was most people's console of choice, I played Street Fighter II a hell of a lot, often venting my frustration whenever I lost a fight (my blood boils at the very mention of Sagat). My grandmother took the controller to a computer shop in order to buy a replacement and, seeing my teeth marks etched into the control pad, the guy behind the counter asked if we had a dog. It was at this point I realised that I didn't quite have the temperament for gaming, and pretty much stayed away ever since. For this reason, I went into Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One thinking that I wasn't the target audience, but I enjoyed Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, so approached the film with an open mind. It struck me early on that this in fact isn't a movie for gamers, but for fans of pop culture. Barely thirty seconds go by without a recognisable character, vehicle or weapon gracing the screen. You could watch Ready Player One a hundred times and still miss something.

It's 2044 and many of the planet's great cities have turned into slums, with much of the population crammed into small apartments stacked on top of one another. To relieve themselves of this miserable reality, most regularly escape into a virtual reality world called OASIS - created by genius and innovator James Halliday (Mark Rylance) - which allows the player to do pretty much whatever they want, be it climb a mountain with Batman or participate in huge battles without the fear of being hurt or killed. The recent death of Halliday was followed by the announcement that three hidden keys have been hidden somewhere in the game that will lead to an 'Easter Egg'. The one to find it will be handed full ownership of OASIS, and with it unimaginable power and wealth. One participant is Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), an orphaned 17 year-old who lives with his aunt and her bully of a boyfriend in a slum known as The Stacks. Every day he escapes the real world to take part in a seemingly unwinnable race to find the first key.

The sheer volume of pop culture references would normally distract from the story being told, but Spielberg maintains a grip on the action and lays out this new world and its many rules in a coherent manner. The novel by Ernest Cline (which I haven't read) was actually heavily inspired by Spielberg's movies, but aside from the appearance of Jurassic Park's T-Rex, Spielberg mostly avoids referencing himself. He is probably the best man for the job, especially when you consider how Spielberg's fantasy-based movies were so memorable because they kept at least one foot on the ground. Ironically, if there is a big criticism to be thrown at Ready Player One, it's that it struggles to engage when the action is outside of the OASIS, and only really comes to life when within the virtual world. Perhaps this is the point, but when the hero's ultimate quest is to save the real world from falling under the control of an evil corporation named Innovative Online Industries and its slimy CEO Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), it becomes difficult to truly grasp the stakes.

It's irresistible fun to be inside a world without limits, and the special effects department do an exceptional job of envisioning it. Each character can create their own avatar (Wade turns himself into a dashing hipster named Parzival), and purchase weapons and gadgets famous from pop culture. One character is even building an Iron Giant. Wade falls for a manga-eyed rebel named Art3mis (Olivia Cooke) who, as his best friend is keen to point out, could be a fat guy in his mother's basement for all he knows. He frets over what outfit to wear for their date, changing from Michael Jackson to Duran Duran before settling on Buckaroo Banzai. Spielberg has fun playing around with these elements, and it's all scarily believable. But Ready Player One isn't concerned with exploring the psychological and social consequences of such a widespread and immersive gaming experience, and asks that you simply enjoy the ride. And this is perfectly fine, since the ride is thoroughly entertaining. You will likely find yourself urging the movie to go deeper, but by the time Mechagodzilla arrives to battle an army that includes the likes of Bowser, Duke Nukem and Superman, you'll be too busy swimming in Nerd-vana to care.


Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Lena Waithe, T.J. Miller, Simon Pegg, Mark Rylance, Hannah John-Kamen
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie