Ernest Cline’s pop culture mecca that is the novel “Ready Player One” would seem impossible to adapt for most filmmakers. While most of it has made the transition to the screen, much has also been altered with Cline on board to help write the film. And if any director can get the pop culture rights and pull off such a bizarrely over the top adventure, it would be Steven Spielberg. How close did he get to the top score?
The biggest hurdle would immediately seem be the digital world of the Oasis; the online virtual reality world that everyone lives, eats, parties and works in. Visually, it’s absolutely stunning. Thanks to a mixture of particle effects, pixilations, and a purposefully cartoony sense of style, the visuals maintain a pleasing look throughout the film without dipping into the uncanny valley.
Characters have this kind of day glow, chunky appearance to them. Everything looks, appropriately, like it would in a video game. The entire world is brimming with unique colors, effects, and small details put there to make it simply a joy to look at. Spielberg also makes sure to continue to shoot the film like a film even in its digital moments, maintaining a consistency in terms of cinematography and style that keeps things from feeling disjointed.
Blending real-life film-making and the digital world is nothing new, but some of the unique ways cinematographer Janusz Kamiński and production designer Adam Stockhausen do this are just jaw dropping. Keep an eye out for the first scenes in the Halliday Journals in particular.
Musically things are largely positive. Alan Silvestri keeps things light with a score that mixes cues from famous 80’s movies like “Back to the Future” and electronic beats, while also putting the requisite popular songs in place for montages. However, some sequences in the first act lack music when it seems like they should have them. It’s possible it’s a stylistic choice, but it seems odd nonetheless.
The film’s biggest problem is it’s first act. Not that it's entirely bad, but it overall feels far too rushed. Things do pick up, though, and the pacing evens out to a much more manageable degree. A handful of the film’s side characters also don’t see much use, but the time that they are on-screen is amusing and well done.
Tye Sheridan’s performance in the film could also be compared to the film’s structure. He’s talking too fast initially but he eventually grows. Olivia Cooke and Lena Waithe are the absolute standouts as Art3mis and Aech, respectively. Ben Mendelsohn’s villainous Nolan is a deliciously evil bad guy who fits all the perfectly over the top stereotypes without ever making them too clichéd.
Despite the film not featuring any central character development in the traditional sense, the cast manages to grow and become likable due to their interactions with each other. It keeps things from feeling stale, and manages to bring a lot of great lines and moments of humor to the table.
One of the film's best aspects is one seemingly impossible to pull off for a film juggling so much pop culture. While there is the sheer joy that comes from seeing things like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fighting alongside Chucky and Master Chief, or Akira’s bike weaving in between the legs of the Jurassic Park T-Rex or King Kong, these items are never window dressings. Even in the simplest of moments, they serve as methods for the plot to progress, focusing on them for a short time before moving on.
It all manages to come together in such a wonderful mixture of heart, action, and humor that truly feels like something only Spielberg could have done. It takes a deft hand to balance it all, and he's done so excellently, leading to not only some moments of watery eyes, but moments of genuine cheering as well.
It is bizarre though that for a film with such a large scope and visual detail, that the opening logos of the film and its end credits are so disappointingly bland. No, it doesn’t impact the film, but it’s a bizarre decision nonetheless.
“Ready Player One” overcomes its rushed first act and the few underused side characters, as well as the woes of those dismayed by the marketing to deliver a solid action spectacle film with the same level of engaging characters, devilishly great villains, jaw dropping visuals and emotional through lines that only Spielberg can bring to the table. Bursting at the seams with splendor, “Ready Player One” is a treat for every sense and every dimension. 4/5
Photo Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, Amblin Partners, De Line Pictures, Access Entertainment, Dune Entertainment, and Farah Films & Management.
