Ready Player One is a lot of fun, though that may largely be because I’m the exact demographic for this movie. This is a love letter to pop culture of the late 70s-80s. Anybody that grew up loving the movies, video games and comic books of that era will likely spend portions of this film with a big, stupid grin on their face. I know that I did. It’s also a case, though, where my brain and my heart were in a bit of a conflict. While I was enjoying all of the references to Atari and old horror movies, my brain kept trying to speak up and point out that there are legitimate problems with this movie. But, much like the first beer on a Friday night, Ready Player One made me happy enough that I told my brain to fuck off and let me enjoy life for a while.
As a warning, I am going to mention a bunch of the characters and references in the film. It won’t spoil the plot and its practically impossible to discuss the movie without talking about that stuff.
Ready Player One takes place in the rather depressing future year of (I think) 2045. Life has become so mundane and shitty that everyone spends every minute of their spare time inside of a massive virtual reality world called the Oasis, in which you can be anyone and do anything (you can even be feuding brothers in an English rock band). When the creator of the Oasis dies, he announces a contest in which the first person to find the hidden Easter egg in the game will inherit his entire fortune and complete control of the Oasis. In addition to all of the legitimate players in the world, a rival company also enters into the contest to try to take over the Oasis (or destroy it…I was never quite sure what they were trying to do). We follow a teenager named Wade as he attempts to follow the clues, find the egg and save (?) the Oasis.
The creator of the Oasis is a pop culture-obsessed nerd, which is the source of much of the fun in the movie. I want to watch this thing again just to try to catch more of the cameos and references. Some are obvious. The main character drives a DeLorean and stuff like King Kong, Mechagodzilla , Gundam and The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch factor into the plot. But its fun to just look through the battle scenes and try to spot people; I noticed Robocop, Batgirl, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees and Chun Li, and I’m sure I missed a ton of others. Being a horror fanatic, I was smiling the whole time when a large segment of the film unexpectedly takes place in the setting of a classic horror movie from the early 80s. Is this just pandering to people of a certain age demographic? Sure, you can say that, you cynical fuck. But that didn’t stop me from laughing out loud when somebody throws Chucky at a group of bad guys and he stabs the shit out of them. It’s also important that the references don’t feel forced or out of place. They are an organic part of the plot, resulting from the obsessions of the game’s creator, and their presence make logical sense in a game world where people are clinging to the culture of the past to escape the boredom of the present (something I would know nothing about as I type this in my home office decorated with Batman comics, Judas Priest records and Nightmare on Elm Street posters….). It isn’t like something like Family Guy, which often mistakes references for jokes. Here, the plot logically depends on the references.
This is also possibly the best film version of a video game, which is odd since it isn’t based on a video game. The progression of the quest feels like something that you might find in an old Atari or NES game. This is based on a book, and I have to assume that the book’s author grew up playing games of that era because the film just captures that kind of essence. There are tons of video game references peppered throughout the film, and the plot largely does revolve around an Atari game, but it more importantly captures the kind of vague, adventurous spirit of games from that era. This is also the rare occasion that I can’t bitch about the computer effects making the movie look like a video game, because that’s the entire point.
Like Family Guy, though, there wouldn’t be much left here if you stripped the film of all of its pop culture trappings. The characters are pretty bland and the villain is never threatening or particularly interesting. The love story feels tacked-on. (As a sidenote, this movie has one of the more ridiculous examples of “Hollywood ugly” that I’ve ever seen. The main girl doesn’t want to be seen in real life because of how hideous she is, and it turns out she’s really pretty but has a mark on her face. What a fucking monster). We are told that the real world is a complete disaster, but we are never really given any actual examples or poof of this other than that Columbus has become over-crowded. The villain’s plan is really vague, so the stakes never seem particularly high. The only character that I found particularly endearing is Halliday (the game’s creator), and he doesn’t get that much screen time. It’s really a fairly bland movie that is carried by its concept and strong execution.
I’m curious about how one’s enjoyment of this film will be impacted by their age. I had a great time, but the film is also like a checklist of shit that makes me happy. It might not have the same impact on people that are 10 years older or 10 years younger. Or maybe it will. I was born in 1984 and if you’re age is within 10 years of mine, there will likely be a few things in this movie that will make you smile. Sure, the movie may have shortcomings if you look past all of the fun stuff that it’s throwing at you. But I was in a better mood leaving the theater than I was walking in. I don’t ask for much more than that.
Image By: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ready_Player_One_(film)#/media/File:Ready_Player_One_(film).png
