Ready Player One: A Spielberg Throwback That Earns All the Trophies.


WARNING: THIS REVIEW IS INTENDED FOR IMMATURE AUDIENCES ONLY.
OCCASIONAL SPOILERS AND POWER-UPS AHEAD!

Alright, I'll admit: I was a little late logging into the hype of Ready Player One (I kept getting dragged to other cinematic dumpster fires like Blockers, but that's a rant for another time). Luckily, I finally convinced the missus that a little jaunt down Geek Boulevard is just what the seventh Doctor ordered, and we plunked ourselves down in the dark to watch Spielberg weave his magic once again. Anyone who has seen this film can tell you it's undoubtedly a love-letter to geeks who came of age in the 80's and 90's. Geeks like me, who at the ripe old age of 35, still get a chill of excitement when we power up the ol' PS4 and dive into our own digital oasis for an hour -- or ten. In fact, if you're not a bona fide geek then at least a handful of references may be lost on you, but thankfully what is abundantly clear is the overall universal theme of (really) connecting in this digaphile film.

Ready Player One is the geek's biggest dream: it introduces us to the OASIS - a digital haven where you can be anything, do anything and go anywhere, the only limits are your own imagination. Not surprisingly -- and equally relatable for many of us gamers -- the real world of this film is an undesirable slum, filled with rusting towers and broken dreams. Wade Watts, our unsuspecting hero, is a hardcore gamer (gamer tag Parzival) who spends nearly every waking moment collecting Easter eggs throughout the game with his fellow Gunters ("egg hunters"). Wade's world is turned upside down when he and his fellow gamers are thrust into a contest for complete control of the OASIS.

Wade must act fast and find all hidden keys before mega video game conglomerate - IOI - can get their hands on them and flood the OASIS with mind-numbing ads. (The similarities between IOI and other certain real-world gaming powerhouses was not lost on this gamer geek). With the help of a few of his friends' avatars, Wade manages to uncover the secrets of the OASIS and ultimately thwart IOI's nefarious scheme. In typical Spielbergian fashion, it's a group of scrappy underdogs who topple the giant and win the day.

On the surface, Ready Player One could easily be dismissed as a simple popcorn film, nothing more than a summer tentpole flick that is all flash no substance. However, much like the OASIS itself, the real substance hides just beneath the surface -- if we're only willing to search for it. The ultimate takeaway from Ready Player One is that we should take care not to lose our humanity to the digital world we often surrender to, but rather take time to "plug in" to reality. In short, the film reminds us that we can have our 64-bit cake and actually enjoy eating it too!

What is so refreshing about Ready Player One is that it's a feel-good adventure movie that hearkens back to the golden age of Spielberg films, where clearly defined bad guys battle a flawed but determined underdog in a world filled with the promise of adventure. It's the very type of film that filled my nine-year-old self with wonder and made me want to be a filmmaker. It's great to see Spielberg return to his roots. Whether you're a hardcore geek or simply a casual gamer, Ready Player One is an adventure with a high replay value!

Cinema Score: A  
                   

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