*Originally written August 8th, 2018*
Spielberg is not a director who I've been the biggest fan of lately. Don't get me wrong, he's obviously cemented himself as one of the greatest directors of all time and he's made some of the greats, but the past decade has not been kind to him. The last Spielberg film I truly enjoyed outside of Bridge of Spies was War of the Worlds, which was 13 years ago. Since then, it seems to have been a barrage of insanely dull pieces of Oscar Bait. The Post and Lincoln being the two standouts of blatant eye-rolling desperation to get that Oscar gold.
I had no idea what to expect with Ready Player One, I was not familiar with the source material and the trailers did very little for me, I was not looking forward to it. I hate to say it, but I'm a complete sucker for '80s nostalgia and RPO kinda just had me from the opening moments. This is far from a perfect film, it's honestly a bit of a mess of poor characterisation and it's a bit overblown, but I just enjoyed every minute of it. And I hate myself for that.
This is the first time I feel Spielberg has been truly creative in a long time. He has access to an outrageous display of pop-culture references and characters to throw at the screen. It's completely gonzo and I'm truly impressed at the amount of properties they were allowed to use, it's impossible to pick up on everything in one watch. While the references are primarily '80s, they pick and choose stuff from all decades to make for a film that is just an absolute wet dream for nerds like me.
Story-wise, it's a fairly standard young-adult feeling affair, but it works. In a future society where things have gotten so bad in the real world, people spend most their time in a Virtual Reality haven called "Oasis", which is essentially the biggest video game ever created. These people live and breathe through their avatars. After the creator of the game dies, he leaves a challenge in Oasis for the players, a series of keys that must be found and the player who gets there first wins control of Oasis and the late creators fortune.
It's simple stuff, but it works. The lead Wade, played by Tye Sheridan is the every man nerd, a boy raised completely on pop-culture (I can relate). Sheridan is completely fine in the role, as is most of the cast, but the biggest problem is the characters. There really is nothing to them, they're mere pieces put there to get the story moving rather than actually people.
This is the same for all the cast. Olivia Cooke is damn adorable and deserves far better, but is reduced to the under-baked romantic interest, despite a few moments where she gets to shine towards the end. And Ben Mendelsohn is just the most generic villain, a stuck up CEO that doesn't understand gaming and is just after controlling Oasis for profit. Spielberg's boy Mark Rylance is also here as the creator of Oasis and he is once again playing and almost(?) mentally challenged character once again, there was something endearing and sweet about his character, a man that is completely pure and only wanted to create something that people would play to enjoy, but he just comes off as a little bit special. Oh, and Simon Pegg is in this briefly in a thankless role that utilises a very hokey American Accent from him.
As uninspired as the characters are, the plot moves at such a fast pace, it never gets boring, despite being 140 minutes long. It's a complete blast all the way through. I was extremely worried about how CGI heavy this would be, and it is, but RPO gets away with it for the most part, as the film takes place mostly in the Oasis, which is meant be disconnected from reality and not feel real.
Everything does look beautiful though, there's such a huge variety of set-pieces and locations in this world. It's a neon lit feast for the eyes, some of the scenes do look a little washed out, but I have this feeling it must just be the Blu-ray release, as a I remember it being much more vibrant in the cinema (I can't wait to eventually see this in 4K). I gotta mention the soundtrack too, nearly every song is one I listen to most days, so it was such a treat to have these '80s songs thrown in there for good measure. They really were pandering the right stuff to me.
There's so many nice little touches of detail in the action scenes that I'd missed the first time. In the thrilling opening race, there's a shot where Wade picks up coins mid race from dead players and instantly turns the coins into fuel for his car. I don't know why, but I just loved that little touch. On top of the opening race, the rest of the set-pieces are so well constructed and creative, including a long stretch taking place in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (Which I rewatched very recently and they pay homage to it quite well).
I guess I really have a soft-spot for Ready Player One, it's not a film that'll play to most audiences. It's pure spectacle and panders to pop-culture junkies while delivering very little character, but just the pure joy I got from seeing all this happen on the screen is a feeling I rarely get. The best Spielberg has been in years and I'd take this over anything else he's done in the past decade.
8/10 Dans
Ready Player One is out now 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
Watch the trailer below:
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Letterboxd: Dan
