Ernest Cline’s pop culture mecca that is the novel “Ready Player One” would seem impossible to adapt for most filmmakers. While most of it has made the transition to the screen, much has also been changed or altered with Cline still on board to help write the film alongside Zak Penn (“X-Men: The Last Stand,” “The Incredible Hulk”). And if any director can get the pop culture rights and pull off such a bizarrely over the top adventure, it would be Steven Spielberg (“E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,” “Jaws”). How close does he get to the top score?
The biggest hurdle would immediately seem to be the digital world of the Oasis; the online virtual reality world that everyone lives, eats, parties, and works in. Visually, it’s absolutely stunning. Thanks to a mixture of particle effects, pixilation, and a purposefully cartoony sense of style, the visuals maintain a pleasing look throughout the film without dipping into the uncanny valley.
Characters have this kind of dayglo, chunky appearance to them. Everything looks, appropriately, like it would in a video game. The entire world just seems to be brimming with unique colors, effects, and small details put there to make it simply a joy to look at. Spielberg also makes sure to continue to shoot the film like a film even in its digital moments, maintaining a consistency in terms of cinematography and style that keeps things from feeling disjointed.
This is made even more impressive by some scenes that are the definition of bleeding edge. Blending real-life film-making and the digital world are nothing new, but some of the unique ways in which cinematographer Janusz Kamiński (“Saving Private Ryan,” “Lincoln”) and production designer Adam Stockhausen (“The Grande Budapest Hotel,” “Moonrise Kingdom”) do this are just jaw dropping. Keep an eye out for the first scenes in the Halliday Journals in particular.
Musically things are largely positive. Alan Silvestri (“Forrest Gump,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”) keeps things light with a score that mixes cues from famous 80’s movies like “Back to the Future” and electronic beats, while also putting the requisite popular songs in place for montages. However, some sequences in the first act lack music when it seems like they should have them. It’s possible it’s a stylistic choice, but it seems odd nonetheless.
The film’s biggest problem is its first act. Not that its entirely bad, but it overall feels far too rushed, trying to squeeze too many things into a short amount of time. Things do pick up, though, and the pacing evens out to a much more manageable degree. A handful of the film’s side characters also don’t see much use, but the time that they are on screen is amusing and well done.
Tye Sheridan’s (“Mud,” “The Stanford Prison Experiment”) performance in the film could also be compared to the film’s structure. He’s too fast talking initially but he eventually grows. Olivia Cooke (“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” “Thoroughbreds”) and Lena Waithe (“Master of None”) are the absolute standouts as Art3mis and Aech, respectively. Ben Mendelsohn’s (“Mississippi Grind,” “Rogue One”) villainous Nolan is a deliciously evil bad guy who fits all the perfectly over the top stereotypes without ever making them too clichéd.
Despite the film not featuring any central character development in the traditional sense, the cast manages to grow and become likable due to their interactions with each other. It keeps things from feeling stale, and manages to bring a lot of great lines and moments of humor to the table.
One of the best things about the film is actually one many were worried it would have trouble with. While there is the sheer joy that comes from seeing things like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fighting alongside Chucky and Master Chief, or Akira’s bike weaving in between the legs of the Jurassic Park T-Rex or King Kong, these items are never window dressings. Even in the simplest of moments, they serve as methods for the plot to progress, focusing on them for a short time before moving on.
It also manages to help tell the film’s wonderful emotional through line, and remind audiences of just how much these characters and action figures and games can bring people together as well as tear them apart. Yes, there are jokes and moments of humor based around pop culture, but often times whether or not these moments work boil down not to the references themselves, but to the characters.
It all manages to come together in such a wonderful mixture of heart, action, and humor that truly feels like something only Spielberg could have done. It takes a deft hand to balance it all, and he's done so excellently, leading to not only some moments of watery eyes, but moments of genuine cheering as well.
It is bizarre though that for a film with such a large scope and world to explore and visual detail, that the opening logos of the film and its end credits are so disappointingly bland. No, it doesn’t impact the film, but it’s a bizarre decision nonetheless.
“Ready Player One” is packed with a rushed first act and a few underused side characters, as well as the woes of those dismayed by the marketing, but delivers a solid action spectacle film with engaging characters, devilish villains, and jaw dropping visuals that only Spielberg can bring to the table. Bursting at the seams with splendor, “Ready Player One” is a treat for almost every dimension. 3.5/5
