Ready Player One

Score:  B+

Directed by Steven Spielberg
Starring Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Mark Rylance
Running time: 140 minutes
Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Ready Player One is a full-throttle return for Steven Spielberg to his famed roots as a filmmaker of adventure.  While stuffed with references to dozens of past, popular film icons, the movie is actually forward looking in creating a stunning virtual world that looks slick and fantastic and still recalls the excitement of an Indiana Jones.  The characters are mostly beside the point, but it dabbles with some interesting themes and is ultimately a very entertaining time.  Recommended.


In 2045, the world has become overcrowded and depressed, with the exception of one oasis - OASIS, a virtual reality of endless possibilities that countless people inhabit for much of their waking lives.  In addition to the program's overall attractions, its designer, the deceased Halliday (Rylance), created a challenge which will grant the winner control and ownership of OASIS.  Many individuals, such as orphaned Wade (Sheridan) and Samantha (Cooke), become obsessed with the challenge - for various reasons - as well as a powerful video game company, IOI, and its CEO Sorrento (Mendelsohn), who seeks to transform and monetize OASIS.  Despite using a virtual army, it is not IOI but rather Wade (known in the OASIS as Parzival) who unlocks the first of three keys to the challenge, by delving into Halliday's past.  Wade becomes a hero in OASIS, but only shifts the competition into an even higher stakes race to complete the challenge as Wade realizes how important this virtual world has become in the real one.

Ready Player One has an interesting, capable cast, though one lacking any standouts.  Young Tye Sheridan is the lead as Wade/Parzival, and he is just fine but also entirely unremarkable.  It's not all his fault, as the film focuses more on story than character, but much of the time he truly does seem like an avatar in the film, an active participant but also hollow.  Olivia Cooke brings more spark to her part, Samantha/Art3mis, aided by more flavoring provided to her character by the script.  On the surface she is positioned as a somewhat stereotypical female companion, but her acting - sharp, vivid and consistent, in both virtual/vocal and real-life modes - and the script push her well past that.  Ben Mendelsohn is very good as the villainous Sorrento; he has emerged recently as a go-to actor in such roles, but he provides great nuance.  Through everything from a partial lisp to his strategy to win the challenge, he manages to produce perhaps the most well-developed and interesting character in the film.  In a sort of Jobs-Wozniack parallel, Mark Rylance and Simon Pegg are very entertaining as the co-creators of OASIS, both important to the plot but also fascinating in their roles in the culture and corporatization of gaming.  There are a few other small roles - most notably a funny henchman for Sorrento voiced by T.J. Miller - but there's either not much to say or too much to give away about them.

Ready Player One is a very enjoyable adventure movie, one that also touches on some interesting themes relevant to the contemporary world, if only partially.  The first thing that jumps out at you and stays with you afterward is the impressive technical achievement.  I feel like it's pretty hard to impress me with pure CGI at this point, but this film does it: the combination of the crisp detail of the images with the ridiculous scale and intensity of the action on screen leaves you exhilarated (particularly in a bonkers, no-holds-barred race through a T-rex and King Kong-inhabited NYC).  This visual feast is paired with a theme of nostalgia - the citizens of 2045 eagerly embrace countless "vintage" icons, from the DeLorean to Master Chief, all in the same chaotic symphony.  Most filmmakers would likely have their film swept into a numbing abyss by all of this, but of course, Spielberg is not your average filmmaker and he manages (and showcases) it with ease.  The world of 2045 - real and virtual - is shown and explained in an efficient prologue that flows seamlessly into the main story.  That situation, an overpopulated world in which the weary masses flock to a virtual world to escape the despair of a world polluted by inequality and neglect, is an eerily believable cautionary tale for life outside the theater.  Ultimately, Ready Player One focuses much more on the adventure elements, and so some great potential is left on the table - such as exploration of Wade's "real" life, and thus this future world - and cliched elements spring up, particularly around IOI, in order to save time.  But it's an intriguing enough premise to maintain your mental (not just sensory) attention, and it's also helped tremendously by Mendelsohn's presence.  We come back full circle, too, as Wade's digging through Halliday's history provides a lighter review of gaming history, to balance the heavier outlook on our future.

***

Ready Player One is a movie to be seen in the theaters, a solidly made, highly entertaining (and original) kind of film that is becoming less common.  It also shows Spielberg not only still has his fastball working, but also does just fine in a less familiar environment - tech heavy, both in the creation and basis of the movie.  Despite being well over two hours, the pacing is quite good, thanks again to Spielberg's not allowing the action and visuals to drown out the story.  I could see another version of this film - or even a sequel, which I'm usually hesitant to suggest - focusing more on the real world and its relationship to OASIS.  In fact, I think a TV show could be a great idea.  But it is what it is.  While it limits the exploration of its own premise, Ready Player One is still a good movie, and well recommended for a night at the movies.




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