Ready Player One 2018 8 out of 10
The concept
for Ready Player One had me instantly interested in this film. I had heard great things about the book from Geek Podcasts. It was described as the perfect adventure into 80’s nostalgia set in a
Virtual futuristic world. When Steven Spielberg
was named as director the film instantly become a front runner for one of my favorite flicks of
the year. A definite must see movie.
The setting
for the world we see in Ready Player One is the year 2045. It is
a drab future where people spend most of their time in a Virtual World called the
OASIS to basically escape from the battered real world. The OASIS is a place
where anything is possible. You can be
anything or anyone and pretty much do anything. The nerdy, socially awkward creator of the
OASIS at the time of his death placed 3 Easter Eggs within the world that whoever
finds them will get control over the OASIS.
People have been trying for years
to find these Easter eggs and no one has been able to find them. Until Now…….
The
protagonist of our film finds the first Easter egg which sets off a race for
control of the OASIS between him and his gamer friends and a greedy corporation. Much
of the film takes place in the Virtual world so the film is pretty much a CGI
Animated film in my opinion. For me personally the film was just a little bit too much of a video games look. I was hoping for something a little more like Tron than the characters all just looking like video games characters. That being said the film was a fun action-packed adventure. I really enjoyed many aspects of the film –but
couldn’t help but compare it to the Wreck It Ralph sequel that is set to come out
later this year. When I finished
watching this film – I thought that was fun, but I’m really looking forward to
Wreck it Ralph now –because it seems like it may do basically the same thing –but
better and funnier.
The film is
full of Easter Eggs of 1980’s things (many blink and you will miss them) –but I’m
assuming because of the licensing issues many of the 1980’s references have
been replaced with video game references. Seeing this movie makes me want
to read the book now. I have a feeling
that I’ll like the book even more, since I think it will have more of the 80’s
vibe I was expecting to see in the film. I was also surprised to
see how much of the movie relied on The Shining. I enjoyed that segment – but was not expecting
it when so many other 80's references seemed more fitting to the story.
