Ready Player One , a dystopic sci-fi movie directed by the one and only Steven Spielberg and based on the homonymous book written by Ernest Clyne – will make you laugh, cry and get so involved with the story that, when it ends, you will ask for more. The movie is full of pop culture and 80’s references to games, movies and songs that will drive you crazy!
In the film, set in 2045 in a dystopic world, Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) lives in “the stacks”, a vertical pile of trailers where the poorer residents of Columbus, Ohio, live. He and most of the population have the virtual reality game named OASIS as a paradise digital, a refuge in the middle of the chaos they live in. In this virtual reality, you can do anything you want – like go to class, work and be any character/avatar you wish.
However, everything changes when James Halliday (Mark Rylance), OASIS’s creator, dies and his avatar revealed a series of “easter eggs” in the game. This leads to three special keys, and the first one who find the keys will have OASIS’s fortune, starting a competition. But of course it would have villains: a huge company also wants to win OASIS to control the digital world, placing advertisements and, thus, be able to command the world.
Image Source: IMDb
As I commented, the Ready Player One is full of references: it is amazing to connect the story with all of them And the coolest thing is that there is a because for all the references, is not a random thing. and it is a like a tribute to pop’s culture. In addition, the film has a transition of different genres, like action, adventure, a little of romance and even horror – a scene that is amazing, but talking about it would be a spoiler.
What I missed in the film is an explanation of why the world is how it is what it is. Like, what happened? Even at the book we don’t have an explanation and that would make the story even better.
When talking about technical points, I think everything was perfect: art direction and production design were impeccable, there is a color contrast in the two sides of story – the real life, with weak colors, grey; and the virtual reality, so much more lived and colorful, that makes you want to be there too. Moreover, the soundtrack was delicately chosen and the effects match with it. In an amplitude of events, everything is perfectly made in a way that you get involved.
In general, the movie is worth watching and all ages may love it!