Ready Player One Review
Warner Bros. Pictures
In the year 2045, people can escape their harsh reality in the OASIS, an immersive virtual world where you can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone—the only limits are your own imagination. OASIS creator James Halliday left his immense fortune and control of the Oasis to the winner of a contest designed to find a worthy heir. When unlikely hero Wade Watts conquers the first challenge of the reality-bending treasure hunt, he and his friends—known as the High Five—are hurled into a fantastical universe of discovery and danger to save the OASIS and their world.
Ready Player One is one of the fascinating books of our last decade, giving us insight into a world reliant on technology. Pushing themes of individuality and self-worth with nostalgic characters coming together for a celebration of pop culture. It broke records in bookstores across the country, with Warner Bros. Pictures grabbing rights for a feature film adaptation. But can acclaimed director Steven Speilberg make it work? Or will the project sink due to it being over-ambitious. Let’s find out in the official ComiConverse review
Steven Speilberg delivers one of his most grounded and stylistic works in over a decade in Ready Player One, filled with charm-filled looks into technologies current grasp on the world. My most significant takeaway from Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One is the classic blockbuster filmmaker is still alive despite his current focus on Oscar pictures. Ready Player One is a celebration of family adventures from the 80s, blending spectacle with senses of exploration and being lost within worlds. Taking homage from classic musical Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), with our main characters searching for a magical Easter egg which should change their lives forever. Turning Ready Player One into a Luc Besson film on steroids, with insane vistas and groundbreaking action.
Set in a world overrun by the virtual reality service OASIS, which can teleport you anywhere and allow you be whatever in the process. But when the creator James Halliday (Mark Rylance, seen in flashbacks with an odd American accent) dies, his business partner (Simon Pegg) leaves an Easter egg with keys to the whole kingdom of OASIS. It’s now up to a young man Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) with his unlikely friends to defeat evil cooperation who wants to control OASIS. The world is full of pop culture lovers that all get to create recreations of their favorite series and nostalgic memories. Ready Player One commits in bringing back the past while telling a remarkable tale about self-worth and belief.
Warner Bros. Pictures
Tye Sheridan (X-Men: Apocalypse) plays Wade Watts, a young man who wishes to win the Quest so he can leave the slums of Columbus and live a better life. The actor delivers another likable performance, with his love for the OASIS allowing audiences to visit new worlds with glee. Wade (Tye Sheridan) is a quiet, soft-spoken person outside the OASIS, but once inside transforms into Percival – these blends of personalities make it so engrossing to see him interact with others. He wants a better life for people in and outside this virtual world, fighting against the rogue organizations that only care about cash flow. But, despite these bleak situations inside the OASIS, he finds ways to be amazed at its beauty.
Our secondary protagonist Samatha Cook (Olivia Cooke), delivers a smashing performance as the quirky Art3mis – who is after saving the OASIS from the evil organizations. I loved her interactions with Percival throughout the two-hour runtime, with sparks flying in all areas allowing us to understand several connections formed in the OASIS. Oliva Cook steals the show on so many levels with Tye Sheridan, as their avatars have similar interests and goals. Steven Speilberg makes sure each interaction feels real and authentic to the modern day stance on technology and gaming.
Director Steven Spielberg delivers fast past action sequences and intriguing dialogue inside the OASIS, but this leaves the real world feeling disconnected making it hard to root for these kids in the long term. That is all down to adapting a book which took place over several years into two-hours of action. Now, Ready Player One issues could have been fixed with a more important explanation of the world outside OASIS, which feel at odds with the pleasant tone of Wade Watt’s virtual lifestyle.
Despite several issues including a 2D dimensional villain, Ready Player One engrossed me and the audience within the OASIS virtual world, as acclaimed director Steven Speilberg (The Post) makes sure to provide an unmissable celebration of culture. While it might not be for everyone – there is something undeniably magic about seeing King Kong and Godzilla duke it while a DeLorean DMC-12 scaling buildings. Ready Player One is not a revolutionary film in many ways, but one grand celebration of pop culture which deserves to be seen on the biggest IMAX screen available.