Can you name the school in John Hughes’ iconic teen film ‘The Breakfast Club?’ If you answered Shermer High School then ‘Ready Player One’ will be right up your alley. There is only one director that could adapt Ernest Cline’s novel into a visual thrill ride and that is Steven Spielberg. Although there is an overload of digital special effects in the action sequences, this movie reminds us why Spielberg is a great filmmaker. ‘Ready Player One’ is solid escapist entertainment that pays homage to ‘80s pop culture. Unfortunately, the paper-thin storyline and underdeveloped characters will leave you feeling a bit empty.
Set in 2045, the story takes place in a dystopian future where people spend the majority of their time in a virtual world called OASIS. It’s never really explained how people pay their bills since they spend all of their time gaming. Our hero, Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) lives in a trailer park community referred to as “The Stacks.” He escapes his bleak existence in Columbus, Ohio under his avatar, Parzival in search of the egg. Upon the death of Oasis founder, James Halliday (Mark Rylance), he leaves one last game within his virtual universe. If any player can obtain three keys and find the Easter egg, he will inherit Halliday’s half-trillion dollar fortune and have control over the OASIS.
The allure of OASIS is that you can be or do anything you want in this vast virtual playground. You can scale a mountain next to Batman, dance in a virtual nightclub with a hottie to New Order’s Blue Monday or take a vacation with a supermodel. Wade is focused on finding that first key so he revs up the engine to his vintage DeLorean and races through the streets of Manhattan. This is where we are introduced to his secret crush Artemis (Olivia Cooke) as a punk rock badass who rides an Akira motorcycle. It’s also her quest to win the race, get the first key and appear on the leader board. There is only one problem. Every time they try to cross the finish line either a rampaging T-Rex or an angry King Kong stops them. It’s a top-notch action sequence that is guaranteed to dazzle the popcorn crowd.
Besides the state of the art CGI, Spielberg throws in a romance between the two leads Tye Sheridan and Olivia Cooke. It is one of the biggest flaws of the movie. They just don’t seem to have any chemistry together. Cooke is convincing as Artemis but Sheridan is miscast as Parzival. He never comes across as geeky enough to pull it off. Obviously, the key to the character having a chance to win it all is that he is obsessed with 1980s pop culture just like Halliday. All the clues to winning the contest depend on the player’s knowledge of ‘80s movies and video games. This is why Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelson) and his army of lackeys fail every time and Wade has the uncanny ability to solve the riddles. He actually loves the ‘80s and it certainly helps to ensure that the OASIS is won by the good guys… Let’s hope.
One of the best scenes in the movie is when the characters explore The Overlook Hotel in ‘The Shining.’ It’s a fresh perfective on the masterpiece and why it is still one of the scariest horror films of all time. So if there are so many clever special effects, why does it feel hollow? The action sequences make you feel exhausted by the third act. There are so many ‘80s pop culture references that whiz by the screen that it is impossible to appreciate all of them. Another problem is that we don’t know what motivates Wade to win the game. He never says that he is going to use the vast fortune to save humanity like Cooke’s character. There is no reason why we should care about him other than he wants to escape the slums of the stacks for a better life.
Another question is why save the OASIS when it is evident that people are wasting their lives in this virtual world? Flaws aside (the book is better), if you want to enjoy a visually stunning thrill ride, ‘Ready Player One’ wins the game.
