With the exception of a few flaws, “Ready Player One” is a solid action film, an excellent exercise in nostalgia and a great popcorn movie.
Steven Spielberg is known mostly for his enjoyable, if slightly childish films. He is very much a big budget director, and has made a name for himself as one of the biggest and most successful film directors of all time. “Ready Player One” is the result of Spielberg using all his influence and experience to stretch his legs and have a little fun.
Structurally and thematically, the film isn’t anything special. It has a cliché villain, a cliché hero and a cliché team of young friends that the hero relies on. The film managed to fit a treasure hunt, a rescue mission and a large scale CGI battle into its two hour, 19 minute runtime, but while each of these things added to the film as a whole, each individual aspect felt underdeveloped.
I was disappointed by the treasure hunt. Teased in the trailers, the hunt for the easter egg to control the Oasis was the primary focus of most of the film, yet it still felt lacking. Many of the riddles were disappointingly solved off screen, and some of the deductions that were shown were based on information the audience didn’t have previously. In other words, it wasn’t really possible to follow along and solve the riddles yourself, you just had to wait for the characters to get around to explaining them. It may be a relatively minor nitpick, but I saw it as a missed opportunity to make the film into something truly fun and exciting for its audience.
The rescue mission plot closer to the end of the movie felt very contrived. It was clear that the only reason the characters were in the situation they found themselves in was to advance the plot. It wasn’t well thought out. I can’t say too much without spoiling it, but Spielberg should have found a different way to advance the story.
The CGI, on the other hand, was stunning. Scenes in the virtual world of the Oasis were just outright gorgeous, and all the pop culture character cameos made for some very entertaining backgrounds. I was especially pleased to see references to “Batman: Arkham Knight” and “Firefly.” The final battle scene was a spectacle. From Tracer fighting alongside ninjas, to the Iron Giant facing off against Mecha-Godzilla, it was fun to watch. Most scenes were a visual treat.
The world building could have used a little work though. Maybe I’m nitpicking again, but certain aspects of the Oasis and how people interact with it didn’t make sense to me. Like, did everyone have a treadmill in their home? If not, how did they move around in the game without slamming into walls? Minor complaints, but still valid I think.
The acting for the most part was good, though it probably helped that most characters spent a large portion of their time as CGI. I did actually really enjoy Mark Rylance’s brief scenes as James Halliday. He brought life to the character. Aside from Halliday, however, we didn’t really see any meaningful character development at all.
Overall, “Ready Player One” was quite enjoyable. Visually dazzling and interesting for its setting, the film was mostly just a lot of really cool action and cameos. The plot had potential, but it didn’t live up to what it could have been. Thematically, it was extremely cliché, and its characters never developed, but I didn’t mind that much. It was a feel-good film. It was funny, and at times engrossing. It doesn’t live up to some of Spielberg’s previous work, but the film is still a fun watch.