Ready Player One Review

Starring:

Tye Sheridan

Olivia Cooke, Lena Waithe, Philip Zhao, Win Morasaki

Ben Mendelsohn, T.J. Miller, Hannah John-Kamen

Simon Pegg, Mark Rylance

Who better to helm Ready Player One than Steven Spielberg? Inarguably the most famous director of our time, Spielberg has been making quiet films as of late. Lincoln, Bridge of Spies, War Horse, and The Post are all awards bait period dramas. But Spielberg is largely known for his work in the 70s through the 90s, in action and sci-fi classics like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial and Jaws. It's safe to say that Spielberg and his films are very ingrained in our pop culture. Ready Player One marks his triumphant return to blockbuster fare, and it's largely a success. In Ready Player One, the OASIS is a futuristic virtual reality experience in which players can escape their boring lives and be whatever they dream. It's filled to the brim with references from 70s and 80s pop culture, as citizens long for happier times. The film centers on Wade Watts, who uses his avatar Parzival to try and find the "Easter Egg" left by the OASIS' late creator James Halliday, which gives the winner complete control over the OASIS. Also on the trail is IOI, a tech company who hopes to win the egg and shut down the OASIS to have complete control over the tech-heavy economy. Because of how all-encompassing the OASIS is in its scope, Parzival and his friends encounter a myriad of figures and settings from some of the most iconic movies, video games and TV series. From Battle Toads, to King Kong, and from Akira to Saturday Night Fever, the nostalgia factor of Ready Player One is off the charts. I had to see it twice simply because the nostalgia of the initial viewing clouded my judgement. Upon the second viewing, I determined that Ready Player One is an incredibly well-made movie, and a return to form for Spielberg, but the over-reliance on nostalgia leads to some deep pitfalls and errors that not even Mecha Godzilla and The Iron Giant can fix.

Good Nostalgia & The First Task

It's great to see some of our favorite characters and references in Ready Player One, albeit for short seconds. Ready Player One is full of references and few of the callbacks play large roles in the story. On our first foray into the OASIS, we get glimpses at Marvin the Martian, Hello Kitty, Sonic the Hedgehog and Minecraft. But these are just brief and fleeting. However, Halliday's first task gives some old favorites some serious screen time. The first challenge is an elaborate race. The cars are references from Speed Racer, to the A-Team van, the Batmobile and obviously, the DeLorean from Back to the Future. In the race, obstacles include the T-Rex from Jurassic Park and King Kong. Seeing old favorites interact with the story is really exciting, and contributes to the thrill ride. The first task included some of the best visual effects I've seen. Everything moved at a lightning-quick pace, yet all the visuals were crisp and clear. The setting was very claustrophobic and I felt like I was in the middle of the race, and the stakes felt very real.

James Halliday

In my opinion, Ready Player One's biggest asset is Mark Rylance and his brilliant performance as James Halliday. Rylance previously won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Spielberg's Bridge of Spies, and is continuing a great working relationship with the director. Halliday is the heart and soul of the story, much moreso than any video games or film references. In the film, Parzival, Artemis and the team are trying to figure out the mystery behind the game's creator, and essentially the most brilliant man in the world. Halliday is an icon in this world, revered by the OASIS users. Rylance chooses to make Halliday a nerd, and yes, his quirkiness amounts to some laughs, but it's the soul that pulls you in. There's a tragedy to Halliday, seen in his inability to pursue his true love and his crippling social anxiety. The man is larger than life in the scope of this story, yet Rylance is able to breathe humanity into him, and it allows him to become accessible. The most meaningful scene in the movie is when Parzival wins the final challenge and gets to talk with an avatar of Halliday. He remarks upon how the OASIS has crippled society and how the world is too reliant on it. But there's a sense of unrelenting pride in what he created, and the fact that Halliday carries the weight of these conflicting emotions is so well done. He's dead for the entire movie, yet he still managed to be my favorite.

The Shining (Second Task)

This is probably because I'm a huge movie fan, but the second task sent me into overdrive. The second task is to enter the Overlook hotel from Stephen King's The Shining, and find Halliday's long-lost love amid the scramble. This sequence features the blood pouring from the elevator, the twin girls, the woman in Room 238, and of course, Jack Torrance and the axe (sadly, no Jack Nicholson). Even as they entered the task, the movie theater's windows were foggy, mimicking the air conditioning. But topping it all was the slow pan to the famous photo of the guests, but instead of Jack Nicholson at the center, it's Halliday and Kira. The entire just immersed me right back into King (and director Stanley Kubrick's)'s world and it was amazing to behold. This is the future of video games, and if there is a gaming experience in which I can enter my favorite movies, sign me up.

The Distracted Globe

Another scene that took my breath away was the part in The Distracted Globe, a nightclub in the OASIS. This is distinct from the last two, because it did not rely on my nostalgia. Visually, this was the peak. Parzival and Artemis arrive at the Distracted Globe, mistakenly believing that it holds the answer to Halliday's second clue. In the Globe, dancers are suspended midair while New Order's "Blue Monday", an 80s synth classic, plays in the background. The song perfectly adds to the detached nature of Parzival and Artemis' "will they won't they" relationship as the two are catapulted through the air. The visual of Artemis' red dress as it dissolved in the air was particularly stunning. Then to top it all off, Parzival switched it up and played "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees (a personal favorite song) and the area exploded in personal dance floors from Saturday Night Fever for each of the patrons. The entire scene was so distinct among the clamor of the sometimes deafening assault of nostalgia that it stood out.

Bad Nostalgia & The Third Task

The problem with a movie that is so centric on nostalgia is that it sometimes uses it as a crutch. The third task is 50/50. It's centric on the video game Adventure which sports the first Easter Egg in the developer's name hidden in a level. The nod and connection to Halliday and his own Easter Egg is a really nice touch. However, the third task is also when Parzival calls upon all the OASIS players and the nostalgia becomes very overwhelming. It's essentially just a game of "I Spy" with pop culture references. At about the time when the Iron Giant was knocked into lava by Mecha Godzilla and gave the thumbs-up from Terminator 2: Judgement Day, I was taken out of the movie and rolled my eyes. It was a gross amount of references, and while I appreciate their place in the movie, I was much more invested in the film's original story.

The High Five

As far as the actual living characters go, I wasn't a huge fan of the High Five. Ready Player One is a concept movie, and its strength lies in the concept, not necessarily in the little pieces. Unfortunately, this movie makes the main characters a little unnecessary. Parzival's aunt dies and I didn't feel bad for him at all, his character was that thin. Artemis on the other hand, she was essentially just a gamer's dream, and while she had some great lines, she didn't have a lot to do in terms of acting. Aech was by far my favorite of the High Five, and showed promise, but they sidelined her and just had her drive the van, essentially cutting short her screen time. The problem with events happening in the OASIS virtual reality and in the real world is that we're treated to people wearing headsets in a bumpy van when we really want to see what's inside their heads.

Nolan Sorrento & IOI

I'm a huge Ben Mendelsohn fan. He's easily the most consistent part of Bloodline, a very uneven show and is frankly one of the most consistent parts of any project he's involved in. Ready Player One is no exception, and he excels in a villainous role. However, the group behind Sorrento is a flimsy antagonist. IOI is the same cookie-cutter evil corporation, simply suited for this apocalypse. Their motivation is economic and government control, which is unoriginal. One of the side-stories (if it can even be called that) is Sorrento's personal feud with one of his subordinates. The feud was supposed to give IOI a little more humanity, but IOI and their generic, faceless Sixers are derivative. I actually really loved Sorrento until the end, when he chokes on shooting Parzival. He knew he was going to get arrested and had nothing to lose, and had shown no appreciation of video games or any kind of human emotion. That amount of evil was what made me love Mendelsohn's performance, so not only is Sorrento's bluff completely out of character, it's simply stupid.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Ready Player One is a very good film. I had a lot of fun seeing it both times, and I didn't even catch most of the references until after. Even then, I am not a huge video game fan so many appearances mean nothing to me. At the center of Ready Player One is a very beautiful and moving story about a creator with conflicted feelings about what he's created. I did not expect an emotional connection from this film, and Mark Rylance's Halliday definitely packed a wallop. The only problem is that you have to dig to get that message. At times it surfaces, but at most you must unpack tons of nostalgia and flashy scenes to find it. Ready Player One is a great movie, and I am one who can see past the alluring nostalgia. I just hope other people appreciate it for the original story and not the generic and unoriginal pieces that surround it.

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