Ready Player One – Film Review

Virtual Reality is growing in popularity in the gaming industry to not only play new video games but experience films but also find a way to escape reality. When you want to bring a book to the big screen with the filmmaker who is heavily referenced being the director, its an instant winning combo, right? Well, yes it is. The film succeeds in trying to capture the Spielberg magic (Young male teen going on a quest for success, sound familiar right?).

Ty Sheridan and Olivia Cooke do a great job as the leads of the film. They felt like equals in both screen time and in balance of being well rounded characters. Lena Waithe does a great job as the other lead female character. Mark Relliance I enjoyed as the man who started the OASIS who had some great one liners throughout the film. The OASIS world building was very well executed. Ernest Cline did a good job translating his book video game to the big screen. It felt very lived in.

People come to the Oasis for all the things they can do, but they stay for all the things they can be.

My negatives with the film come with trying to push so much story into the film that sometimes some scenes feel like I’m being rushed through a crash course to get from one point to another. Also some characters find each other too easily which had me asking, “How did you find them?”. Though I did get past that and know it was trying to keep a rollercoaster pace to make sure it didn’t slow the film’s momentum. I would need to see it again to be able to take it all in. Seeing a lot of the avatars throughout the film was sometimes distracting because I knew I was watching actors be avatars of people they are trying to portray rather than just actors doing voice work or being just actors on screen.

I thought that is was a very well done film by Spielberg. The script could have been cleaner and more neat. A lot of the references went over my head when it regards to some video games and properties. But, regardless this is a film that deserves to be seen on the big screen. It is a love letter to everything we love, escapism and reality.

8/10