Ready Player One

So I've become a little bit picky with the movies that I choose to see in the theaters. You can be assured that I will always see the Avengers, the Deadpools, the Star Wars, and other big films in theaters, probably on the first day and at the very least the first weekend, but other movies like Ready Player One, you're a little less likely to see a review about a film like this while its still in theaters. And I'd like to say it's because I've become more particular and snobbish about which movies I'll go and spend my money on but the reality is, it's laziness. I've become lazy and just don't get off my ass to see these movies in theaters when there are plenty of movies at my fingertips in places like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and HBO. The theater I went to last night used to be the biggest theater in town and now it's probably struggling to stay in business because of people like me.

But the other part is that as many movies as I have gone to by myself, I don't like doing it. If it was my job, if there was a financial benefit to it, I would look past that. But this is a hobby. A very long drawn out hobby. And I still prefer going to movies in the theater with people instead of by myself.

All that being said... I'm glad I found someone to go with me to this movie.

Ready Player One is set in the somewhat distant but somewhat close future of 2045 (it is a lot closer of a date than people realize). In this future there is overpopulation and people have started living on top of each other in what they call stacks, just trailer homes on top of each other.

We are introduced to our character Wade Watts (played by Tye Sheridan). He's just your average kid(?) living in Colombus Ohio. But he like almost everyone in the world now, decides to forget the life he has the in the real world and instead logs in to a mass online virtual reality world called, The Oasis.

Created by a man named James Halliday (played by Mark Rylance, Spielberg is really enjoying working with him these days), on his death bed he put out a challenge to everyone playing that if they could find three keys in three challenges, they would find an Easter Egg put in the game by Halliday himself. Whoever finds that Easter Egg will earn Halliday's shares in his company and become the richest person on earth.

However, when the movie starts, 5 years have passed since that challenge was put out and nobody has found any of the keys. Now there are corporations, one in particular run by a man named Nolan Sorrento (played by Ben Mendelsohn) using all their power and wealth to beat the game and win that prize, and there are players like Wade who want to honor the true memory of Halliday and do the right thing with the control they would have if they won.

Now before I start tearing into the reality this world creates as opposed to the reality of what it actually would be like, I will say this. This movie was based on a book.

It's a really interesting concept and I'm interested to read the book now from the movie. I don't know how much of the pop culture references were pulled from the book and how many were just the perpetual nostalgia for everything made in the 80s and 90s we have today, but they took on quite an undertaking by incorporating all these pop culture references into one movie while still managing to maintain some original-ish, looking characters. I'll talk a little bit more about the story later but this movie and the book, had a similar goal of movies like The Hunger Games. This movie was pretty sneaky in its way that it managed to disguise itself as a unique adventure film when in reality its another Young Adult Hunger Games genre film. I'm glad it wasn't too gratuitous in that realm but don't worry, there's a lot of gratuitous stuff in this movie I'll talk about and the first thing is how this game doesn't feel or even address the reality of gaming culture.

The book and screenplay was written by a guy named Ernest Cline. I have no doubt that Cline is a nerd. I have no doubt that he is a gamer. I have a feeling that a lot of the pop culture references and video game references were from the book. And these references they're not just mainstream references, there are some deep cuts. I picked up on some subtle things but the internet is vast and full of people who saw this movie a bunch more times than I did and they saw references that I didn't pick up or didn't even know were references. 

However, the movie addresses gaming in the way Steven Spielberg would probably see gaming. It's this rosy pop culture nostalgia world played by nice, good looking guys and girls like Tye Sheridan and Olivia Cooke who plays one of the other avatars that Wade comes across, when in reality the gaming world is filled more with not so great looking people who are just assholes like Wade's aunt and her boyfriend, OR run by 11 year olds who cuss a lot more than they should at their age.

Now I should have a disclaimer that I am apart of the gaming community. I don't consider myself a bad person and I'm sure there are a lot of people out there just like me, in fact we're probably the majority, we're just not as loud. But the movie kind of skips over the stereotype of the gamer it kind of mentions a little when there are a lot of jokes and commentary you could have on how toxic gaming culture can be.

There's a couple of scenes in the movie where Wade is warned that it's dangerous to meet people in person who you meet in the Oasis because you could run into a fat guy who's just cat fishing you. But when these characters actually meet, they're just your typical Hollywood hot attractive people in their 20s. I think they could have done a lot more with the reveals in this game. Especially with the kinds of challenges they run across. And especially since this movie is trying to be a little bit of a pop culture self aware comedy along with being an adventure film, I think they could have banked on that a little more.

But another criticism I have of the movie is that the narrative, which could easily be woven into a unique and person Spielbergian tale was really overshadowed by the spectacle of having all kinds of pop culture references everywhere you look.

The pop culture references in this movie are vast and like I said before, deep, and whoever is on Youtube pointing out every single reference they make in this movie... God Bless You. But at the heart of it there could have been a story about a hero similar to the likes of other heroes in Steven Spielberg, Zemeckis, or any of the other heroes referenced in this movie.

Instead we get a group of heroes who only end up being as strong as the pop culture reference they pull out of their pocket... literally. They pull stuff out of their pocket the same way you would in a video game and of course if you're a nerd, you'll recognize it and say to yourself...

And the truth is, I can't decide if I liked the movie more when it was heavy CGI in The Oasis, or when it was in the real world and had the Hunger Games vibe to it. Both ends really have their downsides but at the same time they have their upsides too. The Oasis is just oversaturated with pop culture references that it distracts from the story, but at the same time I don't want to be the stick in the mud who didn't enjoy seeing Iron Giant and Gundam get in a fight with Mech Godzilla.

The real world has the Hunger Games, "we gotta fight "The Man", the quirky popular actor white guy villain who's trying to take over the world from his seat of power", but at the same time I was interested in the future that was being created and I kind of wanted to see more of it. While the movie does say that everyone is playing on The Oasis now, there still does seem to be a society out there and I was a little curious on what that world was like. I think if it was really this dystopian world that people were escaping from in The Oasis, I would have liked to see more as to why it was so easier to go into The Oasis.

I definitely think this is quite low on the totem pole of movies that have been made by Steven Spielberg because I personally think he can do a lot better than this film. But even with that thought, I can't help and say that this movie was directed masterfully. The performances were good despite the kind of cheesy writing, and I think overall if you go into this movie just wanting to watch an adventure film you're not going to be disappointed.

And I will give credit where credit is due, this movie is a love letter to fans of pop culture and video games. Like I said, it feels like a love letter written by Steven Spielberg who definitely felt more comfortable making 80s pop culture references than video game references, but it is trying to give power to the nerds of the world. I found this movie's message about nerd culture very similar to the one in Galaxy Quest, where it's the fans and the gamers who save the day in the end, not so much the attractive Hollywood actors. (sort of).

Overall, I had a fun time with Ready Player One. There is a lot to tear into it, but if you enjoy pop culture without any of the toxic fanbase or fandom surrounding it, you'll probably have a good time with this movie. It's a rosy tinted view of gaming, pop culture, all in a nice cookie cutter YA novel, but it IS Steven Spielberg. Even when he's not trying (which don't get me wrong, I think he was trying here), he still creates really good movies.

But what did you think? Did you like Read Player One? Did you catch all the pop culture references. I actually like to call this movie Member Berries the movie.

But what did you like or dislike? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks, I'll see you next time.