Movie Review: Ready Player One

READY PLAYER ONE

Starring: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, T.J. Miller, Simon Pegg, Mark Rylance
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Written by:  Zak Penn and Ernest Cline
Based on: Ready Player One, a novel by Ernest Cline

Review by Anelise Farris

It is 2045, and the world is in a “Global Energy Crisis”—resources are scarce, living situations are bleak, and the climate is shifting dramatically. The only purpose for living is winning the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) OASIS. The world spends the majority of their lives in the OASIS—attending school, forming relationships, and participating in the ultimate quest to win James Halliday’s fortune. It’s a high-stakes competition. Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), with his army of Sixers (players enslaved by debt), is determined to do whatever it takes to win. Enter Ready Player One.

Before I proceed with my review, I have to admit that I’m slightly biased to the Ready Player One story. It is the book that spawned my dissertation on identity play in virtual environments. That said, I promise not to spend this review critiquing the movie for being different than Ernest Cline’s book that I’ve read a ridiculous number of times. I will try my best to keep the two mediums distinct and discuss the movie as its own creation.

Let’s start with the cast. The five major players (or gunters) are Tye Sheridan as Wade Watts/Parzival, Olivia Cooke as Samantha Cook/Art3mis, Lena Waithe as Helen Harris/Aech, Philip Zhao as Akihide Karatsu/Sho, and Win Morisaki as Toshiro Yoshiaki/Daito. These characters are known as the “High Five.” The cast does a fantastic job acting both in and outside of the OASIS. Parzival’s more subdued temperament is balanced by Aech’s boldness. Art3mis, a mix of both, provides the perfect love interest for our lead character. Sho and Daito, equally important members of the team, add much-needed humor and heart to this clan.

My favorite casting choice for this film, however, was Mark Rylance as James Halliday. His performance was affecting in a way that I did not expect, and the broken relationship between Halliday and former business partner Ogden Morrow (Simon Pegg) added a necessary layer of depth to the movie (pssst, there’s a lot more of this in the book!). We can’t overlook T.J. Miller voicing the weapons-dealer i-R0k—perhaps the most menacing looking avatar in the film, yet the one with the most humor.

Now for the super fun stuff. This is a virtual reality video-game world directed by Steven Spielberg. It is absolutely gorgeous. From the Stacks to the various planets in the OASIS, I was mesmerized. The world feels as surreal as it does familiar. For all the neon and flipping back and forth between the avatars and the real-world players, I was never overwhelmed. Everything was done just the right amount—including all of the 80s references and the killer soundtrack.

Verdict: SEE IT!!

Ready Player One is a thrilling ride from start to finish. And I honestly wish it would have been longer because there’s so much to explore with these characters that the film does not have time for. So, like, if you want to make more Ready Player One films, Spielberg (*bats eyes*), I’d be totally okay with that.