Movie Review: ‘Ready Player One’

April 2, 2018 at 6:56 am | Posted in Movies, Reviews | Leave a comment

With Ready Player One, Steven Spielberg accomplished something truly amazing. This is a movie packed with nostalgia. From video games, to films, to even toys, there’s nods all across the board to pieces of the past. Indeed, it’s a look into the past, but also a message of the future, and a lesson that we in the present can take heart in. Yet, most importantly, it’s something that can give you pure joy. I mean there are some scenes that are just so ridiculously awesome, you can’t help but grin ear to ear.

Now the movie is based off a book, which I haven’t yet read, so my experience on this one is purely just the movie. From that angle, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. The acting, the casting, the pacing, the elements in the story, the way the action plays out, it all felt just right. And it’s no small accomplishment. With so many random elements of pop culture, it’s amazing how it seems to meld together into a believable experience. A large part of that is due to the VR/video gaming focus of the narrative.

It’s worth noting that toward the beginning of the movie, it can feel like you’re watching a video game. There’s a lot of CGI, and, well, the story is taking place inside a video game. Thus the story is, in part, a video game story. The first challenge is everyone racing through a city past all kinds of bizarre obstacles while everyone drives their vehicle of choice, be it the DeLorean from Back to the Future or the Batmobile. But as the movie goes on, those video game elements begin to fade away as you slip into the story and the characters. Eventually you become a part of the adventure.

However, some of the best parts of this movie are the nostalgia wow factors. For each viewer, it’ll be different as everyone has something from their past or their childhood that will strike them the most. There’s a lot of stuff here and there throughout the movie, from movie and video game characters, to toys and film moments. Not to mention there’s a giant battle at the end that has everyone in the world with their chosen avatars battling it out. You’ll see something and be like, “that’s awesome” and then something even cooler will happen and you’ll be like, “yes!” and then it goes a notch even higher, and you’re just blown away with a feeling of pure joy. That is the magic of this film.

With so much jammed in, Ready Player One warrants multiple viewings. The movie is just plain fun, but there’s also some good messages hidden within if you can get past smiling at the awesomeness of what they pulled off. It’s hard to talk too much about it without giving away spoilers, but suffice to say, Ready Player One is a fantastic movie experience. I highly recommend watching it and give it a five out of five metal bikinis.

Reviewed By: Skuldren for Roqoo Depot.