Ready Player One (2018) - or not

Ready … or not

[Fan service the movie] - [80’s pop culture reference parade] - [Nostalgia necropsy] These could have been alternate titles or tag lines. Steven Spielberg knows how to make a ‘high concept’ movie that makes money for sure. And “Ready Player One” (2018) is that - a money making set of moving pictures.

I give it an A for production design - beautiful CG & sets. I give the screenwriters an A for cleaning up the novel a bit to make it PG13. I have read it - it is not better than the movie. Beyond that, it is 140 minutes of ‘I guarantee I know how this will go’ and ‘How many comic / television / music references from the 80’s can you clock per 30 minutes? Ok - Go!’ I am guessing 30% of the budget went to securing the IP rights for that stuff.

If I think about this in the context of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” or “Jurassic Park” or “Adventures of TinTin” or “The BFG” - this movie is just as well made and could be entertaining. If I think about it in terms of the source material, I guess I was personally not in need of a firehose of nostalgic references laid on top of a dystopian young adult circumstance. Probably why I didn’t dig the novel. If you want a right down the middle story, with some action and humor, great visuals and a cast of 30~40 year olds playing teenagers who all live within 5 miles of each other … “Ready Player One” checks all those boxes. If you want a fun time and to be moved or surprised or thrilled or dramatized or actionized - I would revisit one of the three alternates I listed above