Ready Player One

You should know that I hold Ready Player One (the book) in a very high regard. It's easily in my Top 5 favorite books (maybe even Top 3) and it's a prime example of nearly perfect pacing, mystery, humor, and intrigue, with an obvious moral element throughout. It's around 400 pages (to my memory) and cover-to-cover it's probably one of the most jam-packed novels I've ever read. One of my first thoughts when I finished reading it and as I recollected how the story all began was "Holy s**t. A LOT happened in this book!" It puts many other 1000-page-plus novels to shame in that regard *cough George R.R. Martin cough cough*

What's maybe even more interesting is that the book's focus on pop culture comes from the 80s, an era before I was born and one that I'm not highly intrigued in. But yet as I read the book, all the fun "cameos" and mentions of popular things were not lost on me and made the book that much more special. 

A film adaptation of this novel was always going to be difficult for a variety of reasons (all the included IP licensing being one of them) but also because it's a lot to stuff in one movie AND some things that work well on a page may be difficult to make just as effective through a camera lens. 

Luckily this adaptation secured Steven Spielberg as its director and, quite frankly, I'm not sure that anyone could have done it much better. There are some significant changes from the book here, but they're all well thought out per the requirements of the screen. Hardcore fanboys of the novel may shriek in horror, but realistically this is a highly impressive interpretation of an absolute gem of a book that keeps most of the best parts and broad strokes. 

That's why you don't leave your consoles on over night!!

Corny in a still shot,
insanely impressive in motion

The biggest thing that Ready Player One (the film) suffers from is, unsurprisingly, being overstuffed. Throughout the proceedings, certain areas feel like they're glossed over in explanation (particularly in the human world) and it feels like it needs about 20-30 minutes to end the film, which always tends to drag a bit. It's an odd juxtaposition when the film shifts back to the real world because you immediately feel your rush from the Oasis depleting. It's likely unintentional, but it speaks a lot to one of the themes of the film that our addiction to the "fake" is leading us down a dangerous path. To be fair, most of the real world scenes are totally fine and entertaining though they do drag a bit in the middle. Immediately giving away my feelings toward the film here, but that's really the only problem I had with this one, and personally? I would have watched a 3-3.5 hour film of this if Spielberg had made one. 

So yeah, I f**king loved Ready Player One, though I readily admit (and mostly ignore) any of its faults. 

What perhaps helped on this front is that I went in with surprisingly tepid expectations. I wasn't worried about the actual plot or outcome of the story, but the CGI world of the Oasis looked odd to me in the trailers and I half thought I'd be watching an animated film the whole time. That's somewhat the case, but I should reveal that my biggest doubt became one of the film's biggest strengths. The CGI is incredible in the Oasis and the motion capture of characters rivals that of Avatar (using some of the same technology I'm guessing). In motion on a big screen, it's incredible to behold and in 3D (my first 3D film in a VERY long time) it's even more impressive. I would maybe even go so far as to recommend the 3D version of this film because the VR world of the Oasis does indeed feel that much more "virtual reality". It also packs a punch in the sound and music department with some awesome audio effects and a really fitting (and touching when it needs to be) original score with some awesome soundtrack additions. One of the film's most thrilling scenes is entirely CGI as Oasis avatars race to acquire the first key. The action here, and throughout for the most part, is stupendous, loud, and intense. This race opts out of any sound but the roars of engines and crashing of cars so when you see the DeLorean or Mad Max Interceptor hauling ass it's truly jaw-dropping. 

"Does this VR suit make my butt look big?"
It's a trap!

Leading me to my next, shorter point. The amount of IP jammed into this film is not observable in one setting and truthfully there are probably cameos galore that are hidden or "blink and miss it" moments. I appreciate the film for not relying on these elements too heavily because what starts off as "Oh hey! Cool it's character XXX!" quickly becomes derivative. It picks and chooses its moments to insert them and while there could have been more, I applaud the film for having restraint here as I'm sure everyone wants to see every character under the sun, which would just be silly. 

The plot and story of Ready Player One -- scaled down in length to accommodate a normal runtime -- is still your typical hero's journey. A unlikely hero begins his quest and ends up leading a sort of revolution in the hunt for a mystical item. It may sound cliche, but cliche doesn't always mean that it can't be special. Thanks again to Spielberg's touch, and work with Cline on the adaptation, we keep the core elements and characters of the book, mostly well written, very well cast, and paced in a way that rarely slows down. Even for a 2.5 hour long film, it packs a lot of content in there especially when you consider the Oasis and real world plot lines that are occurring simultaneously. I'll return to the cast because it's mostly a group of unknowns or recent newcomers as the kids and they do awesome here. Ben Mendelsohn deliciously plays our baddie as he's often good at doing and Mark Rylance (a favorite of Spielberg now it would seem) steals the show in his scenes as the highly-awkward Oasis creator, Halliday. 

Can you count the Easter eggs?

Ready Player One is an impressive achievement for a variety of reasons and it results in one of Spielberg's most exciting movies to date. As someone who loved the book, but recognized the challenges of translating it, this is about as good as we could have hoped for (not intended as a backhanded compliment) unless the book would have been split or been 3.5 hours long. It's an absolute joyride for nerds more so than not, but I imagine there's enough here for someone who has never touched a videogame just because of the classic "Spielberg magic" that comes packaged with it. 

CONS

• Overstuffed, which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that read the book. The film takes about 20-30 minutes to wrap thing up and it drags a bit in the middle
• Glosses over some of the explanation of how this world came to be and certain elements/definitions in the real world aren't explicitly laid out
• Something weird going on with Ben Mendelsohn's teeth or mouth is distracting

PROS

• Steven Spielberg was the absolute right director to get for this film. He could handle the pressure and, with the help of the actual author, translate an altered, but highly similar screenplay to something that works better as a movie
• The CGI world of the Oasis may be some of the best special effects we see this year, and that's saying quite a lot. Even more impressive in 3D
• Exciting from start to finish, despite its lags. It's a hero's journey that is predictable, but that doesn't make it any less entertaining
• Awesome cast where everyone holds their own weight. Mark Rylance is a hoot
• Features some awesome action. The beginning race for the key may end up being one of the best scenes of the year
• Good management of IP and when it's fun to use without it becoming annoying
• Impeccable sound editing, great original score, and awesome use of 80's songs
• Paced really well in both the Oasis and real world. There's enough human element here (largely in part to Spielberg's magic) that the emotional beats hit appropriately
• One hell of a ride for an all-time classic book

Rath's Review Score | 9/10