(spoiler free)
‘Ready Player One’ is the latest directorial effort from the brilliant Steven Spielberg. It’s based on the 2011 novel of the same name by Ernest Cline. With Spielberg’s last film, ‘The Post’ proving more divisive with audiences, this looked like it could be a return for Spielberg to his best thanks to the more fun, adventure esque storyline on show. We know he can direct stories of this genre to such a high quality and promising to be an explosion of pop culture could ‘Ready Player One’ be a Spielberg modern classic?
The story is set in 2045 when the majority of the population use virtual reality gaming to escape the real world which is largely desolate. Mark Rylance plays James Halliday the creator of the most popular game, the OASIS. The narrative is focused around a quest Halliday leaves in the game whereby the finder of three keys he’s hidden throughout the OASIS will inherit his entire stock and control of the OASIS. This is a really fun idea but the story presented in the film ends up being somewhat muddled. This isn’t the only thing going on, there’s a lot of character narratives present too however none of these are fleshed out enough. The story includes numerous plot threads; rags to riches, the battle against evil corporation IOI and Halliday’s personal story. None of these receive enough focus outright instead they feel like after thoughts amongst the main narrative of the quest. As I’ve already said this is a stupidly fun idea but it desperately needed something to drive it forward. There’s no doubt that the barrage of popular culture references keep the film entertaining. The highlight of which is a fantastic sequence in the second act focusing around a certain classic film. Although, whilst enjoyable to witness they don’t provide much narrative substance. Furthermore your enjoyment could well hinge of how much you understand or appreicate each individual reference – however credit is due as efforts are often made to include those who haven’t experienced the particular reference.
The cast, lead by Tye Sheridan, are all good but similarly to the numerous plot threads the characters they portray are pretty underdeveloped. We don’t really learn much about any of them and the odd line of dialogue here and there is the only attempt to give them any real depth. This is mostly an issue with the main characters but even the supporting characters aren’t really given enough time to establish themselves before they’re meant to have narrative importance. Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn & Mark Rylance come across the best with Medelsohn’s villain being good fun and Rylance’s Halliday maybe being the only character to provide any kind of emotional response from audiences. Halliday’s storyline is the strongest and comes to fruition nicely in the final moments but it needed a more focused approach throughout to create a more engaging experience.
Visually this is an odd one. The sheer ambition at creating this gaming world on the big screen needs applauded in itself and it has been done successfully. However for the most part the film takes place in the OASIS and the characters are portrayed as gaming avatars, it’s like watching a game. Whilst this is obviously the intention it does take some getting used to and it’s an aesthetic that could prove divisive. Personally I know I appreciated much more how ‘Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle’ handled the gaming narrative with real life actors portraying the game avatars. There are of course limitations to this method when put against the narrative of ‘Ready Player One’ though so it’s not an entirely fair comparison. The point I’m making though is that I was immediately able to connect with the narrative in ‘Jumanji’ yet the appearance of the characters in ‘Ready Player One’ really took some getting used to. However much of the CGI used to create the more iconic pop culture characters was excellent and allowed these creatures to enhance the action, of which there are numerous fantastic sequences, with ease.
Any film that opens with Van Halen’s ‘Jump’ and closes with Hall & Oates ‘You Make My Dreams’ would usually be an absolute winner for me however ‘Ready Player One’ ultimately feels enjoyable in the moment but lacks any real lasting impact. The characters feel weak and the narrative isn’t strong enough to fully engage it’s audience. This leaves the film fading fast from the memory of it’s viewers and even more so when Spielberg’s other filmography is considered. Overall it’s an entertaining experience with some really glorious pop culture fan service but the story lacks development making it a fun but flawed, and potentially forgettable, action adventure.
Written by Hamish Calvert
Rating – 6.5/10
Question: What’s your favourite post-2000 Spielberg film?
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Thanks to Movie House Cinemas for screening access
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