Steven Spielberg is one of the all time greats in the film industry, and is back in theatres this week with his adaptation of the hit novel Ready Player One. In this film we are shown a future where most people spend their time in the Oasis, a virtual reality game where the possibilities are limited to only your imagination. When the creator of the Oasis dies, he leaves a series of tasks in the game, with his fortune and control of the company placed in the hands of whoever figures out these tasks first. The protagonist Wade Watts (otherwise known as his avatar Parzival) and his friends must win the challenge before the mass corporation IOI does and ruins their perfect alternate world. Through this challenge our heroes face adversity, sacrifice, and enough pop culture references that there will certainly be something for everyone.
Tye Sheridan plays Wade Watts/ Parzival, and does quite a good job. He isn't a brilliantly fleshed out character but he works well as the main protagonist, and Sheridan's performance-capture work in the video game scenes is pretty great. Olivia Cooke plays Samantha/ Artemis, the "love interest" in the film, but becomes so much more than that as Cooke brings a badass and nuanced performance. With this film and Thoroughbreds this year is shaping up to be a good one for Cooke. She steals every scene she is in and has a swagger that cannot be matched. The villains of this movie are pretty weak. The head honcho of IOI is played by Ben Mendelsohn, and it just doesn't work. Mendelsohn is fine, but the character is very much just meh, so he comes across nowhere near as intimidating as he should. He has a bounty-hunter like partner within the Oasis that is voiced by TJ Miller. I find Miller to be quite great in a lot of comedic efforts, but his voice is too distinct and doesn't fit his character, taking what could've been a really cool side villain and turning it into little more than comedic breaks throughout the film. Mark Rylance and Simon Pegg play the original creators of the Oasis, and while both of their performances are quite small they did a great job of transforming themselves into their roles, and made for some fantastic moments.
The big star of this film is no doubt Steven Spielberg. Through films like Jaws, Indiana Jones, ET, and Jurassic Park just to name a few, he has been a large part of the childhoods and adult hoods of many throughout the years. His run from the late 70s through the 90s makes him the perfect choice to direct this film steeped so heavily in pop culture, as he has defined a lot of pop culture himself. Unfortunately we don't quite get the kind of Spielberg magic we used to, as there are moments in this film that just fall flat pacing wise. I don't think this should all be credited to Spielberg though, as I'd say most dull moments are account of the lack of agency caused by the film's weak antagonist. Despite the moments that the pacing falls flat, this film still manages to go by pretty quick, and with a runtime of almost two and a half hours I find that pretty impressive. The visuals in this film are fantastic. In the real world we are treated to some awesome dystopian set design, shown through some great shots including some mighty fine tracking shots. As for the world inside the Oasis, I don't think it could have been better brought to life. Every scene within the Oasis looks exactly like you'd expect the ultimate video game to look, if not cooler. The action within the Oasis is also fantastic. There is a huge racing scene that at times gets a bit too fast to follow but for the most part is enthralling to watch, and there is a huge battle towards the end that I found very effective. I'd say a lot of this film's issues lie in writing. There is some brilliant writing, as the pop culture references are sprinkled throughout the film enough to have you constantly looking around and excited, but don't overpower the film as some may have expected. There is truly something for everyone in this film, and I was giddy with joy over seeing some things in this film. Unfortunately the script has its problems. As I said before, the antagonist is weak, leaving some parts of the film dry and lacking agency. There are also some pretty cheesy/ cringy lines from secondary characters. I also think Wade could have been better developed, as much of what we learn about him is told through expository narration rather than actually showing anything to the audience.
While this film has its narrative flaws, it is still a great time. The moments that fall flat are made worth it by some of the many incredible scenes in this film. If this were a film by pretty much any other director I'd be thoroughly impressed, but with the quality of Spielberg's filmography this doesn't sit with the greats. I truly think there is something here for everyone though, and it is an incredibly enjoyable film that will leave you entertained and relishing in references to the things you love.
Rating: 3.6/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
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