Monday, February 4, 2019

Movie review: Ready Player One

 
 The year is 2045. Humanity is on the brink of chaos and collapse but people hardly notice as they spend most of their lives in a virtual reality universe called the OASIS. Upon death of the OASIS creator, a video is released challenging players to find an Easter Egg allowing full control of OASIS and his vast fortune.

Tye Sheridan (Parzival/Wade), Olivia Cooke (Art3mis/Sam), Ben Mendelsohn (Sorrento), Lena Waithe (Aech/Helen), T.J. Miller (I-R0k), Simon Pegg (Curator/Ogden), Mark Rylance (Anorak/Halliday), Philip Zhao (Sho), Win Morisaki (Daito).

Ready Player One begins with some character introductions and by showing us how dependent humanity has become on virtual reality and specifically a VR universe named the OASIS as means of escaping the reality of a collapsing society. With the death of the OASIS creator, a video is released challenging players to find an Easter Egg in the game that will grant full control of his vast fortune and the OASIS universe. The rest of the film is an interesting blend of action between virtual reality and the real world.
What the film doesn't do well is explain the persistent 80's references or why humanity is so focused on the 80's in the year 2045.

Acting was better than expected in this one. Sheridan was enjoyable and worked well with others. Cooke was a good choice and delivered nicely. Pegg, Rylance, Zhao, Mendelsohn and the remainder of the cast were solid and fit well.

Camera work, sets, and backgrounds are heavily blended with CGI and well done. Technical work does a good job of blending reality with virtual reality almost to the point of augmented reality. Action scenes in both formats are nicely done and fitting for the film. Dialogue is good though an explanation of the persistent 80's focus would have been nice. Sound and soundtrack are good.

When the game is over and the credits roll Ready Player One is found to be fairly entertaining. The plot is interesting, including the 80's references, and moves along well. Action, CGI blending, and technical work are good. Those who enjoy action sci-fi, or the 80's, should enjoy this one.

Including some mild sexuality, violence, and mild foul language, this should be fine for teens and above.

Released: 2018
Reviewed: 1.16.19
Star rating: 3 out of 5
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Movies based on a book

copyright ©2019 Dave Riedel

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