Movie Review #49 Ready Player One

I loved the Ernest Cline Novel Ready Player One, it was the most fun book I read last year (I didn’t read many to be fair), that said what I found a pop culture extravaganza held together with warm adolescent love and video game rules, many called a flawed book (it’s a lot to get into to). When Steven Spielberg was announced as the director of the film version I was nervous, although he is without a doubt one of the most prolific filmmakers of my life, if not the most prolific, I have found that lately his films although very good, have been short of great. His serious movies (The Post) have a little too much fun and his fun movies (The BFG) have been a bit of drag. I was worried he would gloss over the dark stuff too much, which he did, but not enough to make me not like it. READY PLAYER ONE (2018) Spielberg brings the book alive, it's a tad overbearing but still a lot of fun. Relative newcomer Tye Sheridan (X-Men Apocalypse) does a fine somewhat bland job as protagonist Wade Watts/Parzival. Oliva Cooke is much better Art3mis and steals much of the film (in part due to the changes made from book to film). I could complain about the changes but Cline himself co-wrote along with Zak Penn (The Avengers/X-Men Last Stand) so if he is okay with what they did, it’s hard for me to not be ok with it. Ben Mendelsohn (Rogue One) shows up as Sorrento, but the character did not get proper screen time and he has a climactic moment in the film which is just nonsensical (kind of want him to stop playing bad guys now). Also TJ Miller has a bit part that is funny, but totally out of place. I was curious to see how many rights to films, games, and music they would end up getting, and although they did manage to get quite a bit, it still isn’t as much as I wanted  (where was the RUSH music?).  Spielberg has an obvious love letter to Stanley Kubrick in there that although isn’t in the book, it does fit nicely here, I’m sure it’s polarizing and maybe a tad selfish on his part, but I liked it (a cool Chucky cameo works well also). The ending was interesting; I liked the teenage romance stuff, but was left feeling cold overall, it felt a tad lackluster. I’ve said this many times, if the story you want to tell takes 3 hours, then make a 3 hour film (nobody complains that The Godfather is too long!), this film felt like it needed another half hour. 

The Shawshank Scale (1-10) I’ll give it a very sturdy 6.0 on The Shawshank Scale and recommend it. My sense is those who loved the book will find issues, those who felt the book flawed may think the changes were improvements, and those who have no idea what the book was will have a fun ride. SEE IT!

BONUS: TOP 5 SPIELBERG FILMS FOR ME:

1. Jaws  "You all know me, You know How I earn a livin"

2. Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade "I like the Austrian way better"

3. Schindlers List "I pardon you"

4. E.T. "Is he a pig? He sure eats like one"

5. Saving Private Ryan "All we can do here is die"

So close: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Catch Me if You Can, Jurassic Park, and Hook.