Ready Player One (2018)

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Five Stars

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If someone was to ask me what my favourite theatrical experience of all time was, the answer would easily be the first time I saw 'Ready Player One'. It was Wednesday, March 28, 2018, and I was actually on my way into the theatre to check out 'Pacific Rim: Uprising', newly released the previous Friday. I wandered in, sat down, and was a little surprised to realize that I had the entire theatre to myself! In fairness, this was the middle of the afternoon on a Wednesday. But I was still a little shocked, as to this day, that's never actually happened again.

The lights dimmed, the commercials and trailers rolled through, the IMAX countdown did its thing, and then something really threw me off... the production companies involved didn't seem quite right - especially the Amblin logo, which was my first big clue as to what was going on. The next big clue, and giveaway, was hearing the opening to Van Halen's "Jump", which solidified things for me. I was watching the wrong movie. This was 'Ready Player One', not due to be released until the next day. And, since I wanted to see it a lot more than 'Pacific Rim 2', and because I was the only person there, I simply went with it.

I remember loving the experience! There was no one there to disrupt the film in any way, I was getting a sneak preview before theatres would be packed for it the next day, and I chose my seat to be smack dab in the middle of things, a little towards the front. I soaked this movie in like a sponge, and the experience was actually so good for me that I recall leaving with a strange sense of euphoria about what happened. It was just one of those perfect luck situations someone only experiences once in a blue moon. And to top it all off, I absolutely loved the movie! If it had been what I was there to see, I wouldn't have left as happy.

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Taking place in 2045, we are shown a dystopian future in which everyday people escape their everyday realities in "The OASIS" (Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation); a virtual universe created by an eccentric dreamer named James Halliday (Mark Rylance) and his more straight-laced pal, Ogden Morrow (Simon Pegg) of Gregarious Games. It's a place for someone to plug in and experience something of a second life. You can be anyone you want to be, do anything you want to do, and purchase in-game items with in-game credits to help you navigate the OASIS. And yes, it does show how too much of an escape can indeed break one's brain.

One day, Halliday passes away, and along with his death is a message for the whole OASIS. Somewhere, Halliday has hidden an Easter egg somewhere within the OASIS, and it will take three challenges to obtain three keys in order to get to this egg. The real challenge, however, is figuring out what the challenges actually are. Halliday left clues to follow, but they are all pretty obscure, thus ensuring that the contest is difficult. This is just as well because the winner of the contest will obtain ownership of the OASIS and essentially get to call the shots from there.

This is where our hero, Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) comes in as a "Gunter" (an egg hunter) under the avatar name of Parzival. He gives us a general rundown of things, and it all ends with a handful of Gunters who are still chasing the Easter egg, trying to get the first key through an unbeatable online street race. Also racing are Parzival's best friend Aech (Lena Waithe), a legend among Gunters named Art3mis (who becomes Parzival's online love interest), and a handful of "Sixers", who are the big baddies of this whole thing, working for a corrupt company known as Innovative Online Industries (or just "IOI" for short).

The big villain here is a man by the name of Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), the CEO of IOI, and looking to take control of the OASIS for what other reason than to throw advertising at people. The "bad" comes from the idea that he and his company will take over a virtual, no-rules world that Halliday once dreamed about. The whole thing kind of becomes a statement on how much corporate takeover sucks, as it tends to take away what was good about things in the first place. The thing is here, it does eventually becomes a life-or-death situation between who will win; IOI or the freedom fighters of the OASIS?

One thing to make clear, however, is that though this is based on the book, and there are a lot of similarities, it is not such a direct adaptation. There are a lot of changes going on here, right down to all three challenges, themselves. But with that said, it's hard not to argue that this is a fine example of why some things should be altered for the screen. The movie version just offers more edginess and action with things, whereas the book's challenges are much more intellectually-based. Each work fine for their respective medium, and it's simply gonna be a matter of taste in the end as to which you prefer.

Personally speaking, I liked both, but I'd sooner lean towards the spectacle that I experienced in the theatre. It's also a movie that's so incredibly jam-packed with Easter egg characters that every time I watch it, I swear I see someone new I hadn't noticed before. In the end, I suppose it may not boil down to a perfect movie, and it's certainly gonna have some book purists criticize it here and there. But this one holds a really special place in my heart, based on not only my experience, but the nostalgic nods, grand scale of it, and the characters involved as well. In my humble opinion, one of Spielberg's more underrated and overlooked attempts.