Sometimes
there’s a film that comes around that changes the idea of what we think a
blockbuster should be. A film that is not only excellent on a technical level
but also changes the way we perceive films and make a thought provoking and
memorizing film experience people would ever witness. Ready Player One however is not one of those films. Even despite
that though, sometimes there comes a film that is a blockbuster and while it’s
not one that has a ridiculous amount of substance and has issues, it still
manages to be one of the most entertaining experiences with so many moments
that would make you smile from all the imagery that can be best described as
AWESOME, Ready Player One is that
movie! A movie that knows exactly what it is and takes advantage of being an exhilarating
and fun summer blockbuster while also not forgetting to have the heart and
decent written that maybe missing from numerous other blockbusters films today.
The premise deals with the distant future
where the world is in shambles and the only real means to escapism is at the
Oasis, a virtual reality simulator where people can create, do whatever they
want and be whatever they want to be. In this world a contest is held by the
creator of the Oasis with the main prize being full control of the system and
with many who want to own the Oasis for evil, it’s up to a teenager named Wade
Watts to win the contest and make sure the Oasis is in good hands. The plot of Ready Player One is as basic as a story
goes, with a straightforward narrative that draws a lot of parallels to various
other films, so it could come across as a movie with various clichés and one
where you may know where it’s going. What stands out about Ready Player One is while as a narrative it’s not the deepest film
in the world, but it does have elements that are missing from modern
blockbusters, because this movie has heart and a genuine feel of wanting to be
nothing more than a fun romp with a good understanding of its material. Ready Player One is a movie that
indulges itself with references of pop-culture from everywhere, from music,
video games, animation and film and while some may feel that it can be a
downgrade as the film does nothing more than just reference a classic 80s movie
for the sake of a cheap laugh, Spielberg’s direction makes it a lot more clever
than that. Spielberg understands the
importance of Nostalgia and it certainly shows in this film through how the
characters really express their love of pop-culture and how it much like the
Oasis itself, is a true escape from the troubles of reality. It exploits and
excels at stating about how awesome nostalgia is, it also has a nice message
about not having it be too much in your life and how one should make the best
of what they’re given. Granted, none of this goes as deep as that but it’s
clear there is a full understanding on nostalgia and relying on it and it is
told relatively well. Even without the themes in mind, the film manages to be
so much fun with not taking itself too seriously and having moments of true
genuine humor that makes the films much funnier than it has any right to be and
even some neat visual humor that works too. The story still suffers a tiny bit
from being a bit simple and also having some plot holes here and there that don’t
quite add up, but its charm and understanding of pop-culture makes the story better
than it has any right to be.
Ready
Player One’s characters much like its story, the film’s characters while
not having the most depth to them also manage to be incredibly entertaining and
fun to watch. With the main character of Wade Watts, he does come across as a
basic protagonist with a not so great life and wanting to make his better in
the Oasis, but the actor Tye Sheridan makes the character as expressive and fun
as the performance can go for a character written as a standard protagonist.
The downside is the other characters are so much more interesting than Wade
that you wish the film centered more around them than him, that being said, the
rest of the cast is also great in their own right. Actors like Simon Pegg and
Mark Rylance, while do not appear a whole lot in the film, they give it their
all in every scene they have and making the film’s charming theme much better.
Wade’s team of friends aren’t the most fleshed out team of heroes but they
serve as fun characters with Aech being the most entertaining of the group with
a lot of funny lines and even some great reveals to their character that aren’t
the most surprising but still neat to see. Ben Mendelson plays the evil
corporate bad guy who wants to take over the Oasis, which on surface level
comes across as a “how cliché can you get?” type of trope, but the way he deliver his performance and
the way the character is written, completely owns up to the fact he’s that
archetype. The film makes fun of how much of a soulless manipulative corporate
jerk the main antagonist is, and Ben Mendelson hams it up the best way as he
can, making this cliché antagonist incredibly entertaining. The final character
that should be mentioned is Artemis played by Olivia Cooke who is without a
doubt the best character in the movie. Cooke delivers this performance with so
much personality and wit, making her incredibly likable from the start, and
also given the fact that she’s incredibly knowledgeable, funny and just
over-all badass due to the writing, you’ll fall in love with her as much as
Wade does. Not to mention, while the film doesn’t go too far to give her some
depth to her character, it does manage to add some substance with the real life
her being much more inclusive to herself and how the Oasis is a good contrast
to that. As a whole character wise, the film is best represented like this as
not the most fleshed out and emotional characters to grab onto, especially
during sequences that could have benefitted from a more emotional impact, but
the writing and actors make these characters entertaining enough where you
enjoy the experience of hanging out with them.
The one element of Ready Player One that makes this movie such a joy to watch for the
two and a half hours it goes on for is the world of the Oasis itself. The world
building in Ready Player One is
incredible, as the Oasis is one of the most visually impressive worlds in
recent memory. The idea of it is simple, be and do whatever you want to be,
ranging from hanging with characters and even being characters you love from
pop-culture, and the world is so inventive and visually pleasing that it’s hard
not to find simple joy in seeing this world unfold. It is an overly CGI world
yes, however considering that this is essentially a video game, it’s a bit more
excusable because this is a fantasy world in the full sense, instead of one
that’s trying to replicate reality. It’s a movie that almost feels like an
animated movie with all the time spent in the Oasis and for what it is; it
looks impressive, with only one weak green screen effect moment outside of the
Oasis that looked weak. Although even outside the Oasis, the film still manages
to be fun and interesting with certain small set pieces and decent character
moment here and there, but for the type of movie it is, it knows not to
overstay its welcome in the real world. Being a movie about pop-culture, one
would feel like it could have an over reliance on it and while there are
moments that may feel like that, the film still manages to tell a fun story
without any of the references taking completely out of it. When a film does pay
tribute to something in pop-culture, it does it in a refreshing and visually
interesting way, one sequence in particular that tributes one of the most
iconic horror movies of all time is a prime example of that. It’s a moment that
might be one of the best tributes to this movie since The Simpsons while also
simultaneously being the exact way a movie like this would be a video game. The
film is also filled with so many minor cameos and appearances of characters and
nods to pop-culture that it can be an absolute joy to see a quick nod to a
movie or game you love even if it is a fraction of a second. The downside to
the Oasis and it being littered with pop-culture references is that sometimes
it feels maybe a bit overcrowded. With so much CGI and so many characters on
screen in the Oasis, that it sometimes feel overbearing to the point where it
may feel like too much is going on in the background in terms of trying to
notice all the reference. It isn’t quite as carefully crafted as something like
Scott Pilgrim or The LEGO Movie, but even with that in mind, Spielberg’s direction
certainly takes note of how much joy can be made from seeing beloved characters
from any medium to appear on sequence and the film encourages to be seen just
to witness all the references one didn’t get on their first viewing. The few
big moments that showcase some of the major Pop-Culture references though are
going go down in history as some of the most amazing things to ever appear in a
big budget blockbuster like this, including a finale sequence featuring three
iconic characters that you would never expect to see them all in one film but
seeing them all together in an epic battle makes this movie a choice for the
best movie ever for any geek out there. It is a film that celebrates and
respects geek culture and showcases in a way that you would have to be a pretty
big cynic not to get some appreciation out of it.
Ready
Player One is comparable to an average good day at a convention like Comic
Con. It may not go as smoothly as planned but witness so much love and passion
for the entertainment people love, it becomes easily one of the most enjoyable
things imaginable. Spielberg made a film that is easily one of the most
entertaining blockbusters seen in years, even with the film being light on plot
and characters to some extent; it still has enough heart and passion behind it
to be a blast to watch which can be more than said for other more recent
blockbusters that barely even try. Style over substance it may be, but there is
still some substance with its theme of nostalgia and characters that are
cleverly written, and with so much incredibly world building and moments that
are just plain awesome, Ready Player One
comes highly recommended to anyone who at least a tiny bit of interest in Pop
Culture. Ready Player One is a movie
that can be described in just one simple word, RAD, and that’s all it needs to
be.
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