Movie Review - Ready Player One

Well no point in me listing all the easter eggs and pop culture references seen in the film as everyone else has done it already. So in the year of 2011, American novelist Ernest Cline wrote a novel on the idea of a dystopian world in 2045 where paradise can only be given through virtual reality. Legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg then read the novel and decided to create a film adaptation with Warner Bros. distributing it (having previously won the rights to making one). This is one of those stories that relies on all things pop culture which is likely the reason why a film adaptation took too long to be made until now. I personally don't have a problem with any form media using pop culture references, just as long as they are there for a reason other than for nerds and geeks to point them out. The novel itself picks up pop culture from the 70s and 80s with the primary focus being on films and video games. The film meanwhile goes above that by also bringing in pop culture from the 90s, 00s and 2010s. So let's see if this nostalgic thrillride is good or not:

So as previously mentioned, the film is set in 2045 (just like the book) at a time where the world everyone lives in, just isn't all it's up to be anymore. So the only escape from this depressing world is using virtual reality to travel to the Oasis. A virtual space where everything is built on the pop culture that the co-creator James Halliday (played by the 2016 BFG himself, Mark Rylance) loved when growing up. He of course built the Oasis alongside his former friend Ogden Morrow (played by a man of many talents, Simon Pegg) and it has become a popular form of entertainment, pleasure and work for the world's population. But when Morrow left and Halliday passed away, the latter then gave the players a challenge to find the hidden Easter Egg which whoever finds it will have full ownership of the Oasis as well as Halliday's fortune among other things. This attracts a number of players including a team that call themselves the High Five led by Wade Watts (played by Tye Sheridan) who considers himself a fan of Halliday and wants ownership of the Oasis so that he can leave his aunt's home. Whereas a company called IOI led by Nolan Sorrento (played by a man known to play a-hole villains, Ben Mendelsohn) also wants ownership of the Oasis, but he wants to be able to make money out of it and basically screw everyone over. So it's a challenge of epic proportions where only one will get the prize.

As someone who has read the book and is therefore aware that not everything mentioned in the book can be used in the film (such as Blade Runner, Ultraman and anything to do with Marvel and LucasFilm), it is pretty good. It does use a lot of CGI (and for good reason) and the Oasis is a visual spectacle that is full of pop culture, but not too much of it to allow for the main characters to have screen time. Its nice that the film came out at a time where virtual reality is now mainstream and it shows that virtual spaces can very well be used to great lengths like its seen in the film. Only criticisms I can make is that there was at least one question that once brought up, didn't need answering in the next line that was uttered. Although its a 12 in the UK, it does feature some horror characters and has a sequence based on The Shining which makes me question if this film should've been rated higher than that (also more than one swear word were mentioned). But other than that, it is what it is. A nostalgic thrill ride just like the book and one worthy of your time if pop culture is your thing. 9/10