Post Date: 3/31/18
So it's finally here the Holy Grail of Nerdom has hit the big screen. Can a 2 hour movie deliver on fans lofty expectations set by the almost 400 page novel? In this writers opinion it's a noble endeavor regardless the outcome but i'll dive into what I think the movie got right and what the movie got wrong. So accept the quest, we're going on an adventure!
THE DISCUSSION:
So i'm just going to rip the metaphorical band-aid off. This movie is very much an adaptation of Ernest Cline's book. A lot of things get changed around to suit the 2 hour run time. As a big fan of the book, I GET it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. One of the main pulls to a book about nostalgia and pop culture references is that the reader "gets" them and more-so that the references resonate with said reader. Ready Player One (book) is much, much longer and one of Ernest Cline's trademarks is that he has the characters go off on tangents about 80's movies, video games, music or TV shows. In Ready Player One the movie Spielberg decided to modernize a lot of the references, yes, it still has 80's flare and the sound track is riddled with great 80's hits, but I would be remiss to not mention that a lot of the D&D references and the Flick-Sync scenes were removed completely. One of the movies best sequences is definitely an ode to the Flick-Syncs of the book, I won't spoil it for you but you will know what i'm talking about when you see it. Again, I GET it. I think you would be hard pressed to find a large enough group of people that would like to watch Wade Watts solo play a D&D session or reenact scenes verbatim from War Games. I came out of the movie discussing with one friend that had read the book, and one that had not. Bill (yes, Chronocide Bill!) had no prior knowledge of the source material and came out of it overall enjoying what he described as a "fun Spielberg movie." my friend Stephanie who IS a fan of the book came away from the movie with a bad taste in her mouth.
PLOT:
Without going too far into spoiler territory the premise of the movie is James Halladay creates The Oasis which is a fully immersive virtual reality universe where almost anything is possible. It becomes so integral to society that it essentially REPLACES people's lives, they live, work and play within the Oasis. The world economy revolves around the Oasis. So when James Halladay passes away, he of course leaves behind the biggest quest ever, a quest to find his easter egg. Whoever finds the Egg becomes the sole owner of The Oasis along with winning 500 billion dollars. This leads to masses of people seeking the Egg, eventually becoming known as "Gunters" or Egg Hunters. That and the corporate overlords over at IOI who have entire divisions devoted to finding the Egg and then subsequently ruining the Oasis with Micro transactions, and pay to win ploys. Gross!
SETTING:
The movie hops between the real world, which shows a dilapidated Colombus Ohio where Wade lives in "the Stack" which is exactly what it sounds like, trailer park stacked one on top of another, it's no wonder why most of these people found an escape from reality in the Oasis right? In the movie they touch on the possibilities of the worlds present within, showing a few worlds while Wade explains in a monologue, basically if you can think it up, it can be a thing.
ACTION:
The movie deserves to be viewed in IMAX 3D I have to say, I was super pleased with the experience. The movie is a visual feast, in fact during one of the first action sequences I literally whispered to Bill "I am glad we went with IMAX" There is a special something about watching Master Chief charging into battle along side the Iron Giant and various Street Fighter characters.
I think they did a good job with the casting on the film, Ben Mendelsohn plays a perfectly smug Nolan Sorrento and TJ Miller's I-ROK was a solid laugh. Tye Sheridan's Wade Watts didn't stand out to me during some of the more emotional scenes but his voice during narration is HOW he will always sound to me from now on.
Conclusion:
I think my advice for seeing this movie would be on a sliding scale based on whether or not you are a purist for the source material or if you're just looking for a fun cameo fueled Spielberg flick. If it's the latter I fully suggest you check this movie out, if it's the former I suggest you wait till you can watch it on a streaming service such as Netflix or HBO I think even the noobiest of nerds will find a reference or character they know from a movie/game/comic. The more adept of us will find TROVES. Seriously, I will be watching this movie again as soon as I can when I can rent or purchase it so that I can go scene to scene and find all the fun cameos.
-Video games
-80's pop culture
-Spielberg adventure formula
-Not a strict source material purist
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