Game on
(This
review contains minor spoilers!)
I’ll be perfectly honest here: I liked
the book Ready Player One. I don’t
care what the internet says, I thought it was a fun adventure in a world that
was great to spend some time in for a few days, even if it got a little
self-indulgent at times. It’s not high art, but it’s fine.
I wasn’t super impressed by the
trailers for the movie adaption, but as release date approached, the critic
reviews came rolling in and it became clear Spielberg had left his magic touch
on it, I was pretty excited to see what they were going to do with the concept.
And yeah, I had basically the same
reaction here as I did with the book: it’s a fun adventure, but nothing that’s
going to make you drop to your knees and beg for more.
The plot follows the same basic outline
as a book, but that’s really it. The characters are all the same, the world of
the OASIS is the same, and the end goal of finding the secret Easter Egg at the
end of the game is the same. Everything else is completely different. While I
definitely can see people who didn’t read the book being fine with the path the
story takes, for me it was pretty surprising how several crucial parts of the
story were either altered or removed entirely.
The good news is that there’s not an
outright bad change in the bunch. One thing I especially liked was the far more
positive and optimistic tone of the movie when compared to the often cloying
and relentless cynicism the book tended to wallowed in. The characters are
usually just seem happy to be enjoying the adventure they’re on at times, and
their enthusiasm translates to the audience’s enthusiasm. Main character
Parzival is much more enjoyable as a lead in the movie instead of the
oftentimes annoying and bratty person he tended to be in the book.
Speaking of the characters, they’re
all done fine. There’s no Jar Jar Binks here or anything, but part of me wanted
to see more of some of them. It’s clear the movie is focused on Parzival, his
friend Art3mis, and main villain Sorrento, but I really would’ve liked to see
more of the side characters too. The gang’s Japanese friends Daito and Sho
(apparently they thought Shoto, as he’s called in the book, needed to be
changed for some reason) are only really here because they played a pretty big
part in the book, and a lot of their storyline is excised.
Thankfully the main characters are all
good, albeit a bit underdeveloped. Parzival and Art3mis have great chemistry
with each other and they both get a lot to do throughout the film, especially
towards the end. And, of course, Ben Mendelsohn is great as every villain he
plays, and he’s no different here as Sorrento.
The true star of the show though are
the action sequences. The opening race scene glimpsed in the trailers lives up
to the hype and then some. If you like crazy car chases with giant monsters
chasing our heroes, you’ll want to watch that opening over and over and over.
There’s also a brand new middle scene where the whole gang goes inside a movie
(I’m not spoiling which one) that goes on juuuust a bit too long, but it’s
pretty funny overall. And, of course, the grand finale where all the geeky
characters come together to fight as one is just as awesome as you’d hope.
Ready
Player One is a super fun movie, plain and simple. It doesn’t really try to
be more than that, and honestly, it doesn’t need to be. It’s a fun action
adventure that gives you a few sly winks about pop culture and gaming along the
way. If you’re looking for a movie where you can just relax and watch some
great action and likeable characters, this one is a high scorer.
FINAL SCORE
7/10
Good
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