Yesterday me and my friend managed to find time to watch Steven Spielberg's movie 'Ready Player One'. We managed to watch the sci-fi film after checking that it had gotten solid reviews from both the critics and the general audience.
After all, since 73% of the movie critics and 78% of the viewers (on Rottentomatoes.com) had given this film a fresh rating, that was good enough for us. There was a high enough chance that the movie would be worth watching and worth our time.
In any case, having now seen 'Ready Player One', I have to say that the film managed to be somewhat better than I had expected it to be. It exceeded my expectations, which weren't honestly that high for me in the beginning.
So when it comes to the film, 'Ready Player One' is a science fiction movie that is about virtual reality. It's about people escaping reality after their living conditions on earth have gotten considerably worse over the last couple of decades.
In the film, as our protagonist, we have a young guy called Wade (Tye Sheridan), who spends most of his time in virtual reality. By using his special glasses, he's able to enter this another world where there are almost no limits on who you can be and what you can do.
When it comes to the plot of the movie, the catalyst of the film happens when the developer of the virtual reality (Mark Rylance) passes away. In his will, he's giving his company to the person who solves the puzzles that are hidden inside his virtual 'Oasis'.
Not surprisingly, this incident and revelation launches a massive hunt for his incredible inheritance. Individuals and corporations with their massive resources all over the country start searching for clues that could give them the keys to the ownership of the company.
So when it comes to things that I liked about this film, one of the best things about 'Ready Player One' is that it looks really good. There's no question that a lot of effort went into making sure that the movie would look as good as possible.
By that I mean that from start to finish, everything in the film looks amazing visually. The real world and the virtual reality world 'Oasis' both look so mesmerising and wonderful that it's hard to take your eyes off the movie screen.
This wonderful look of the movie becomes especially obvious during the film's numerous action scenes. There are so many crazy action scenes that you just can't help but to wonder how much time it took to make everything work.
At the same time, even though there are a lot of good things that can be said about 'Ready Player One', that doesn't mean that everything in the movie works. Especially when it comes to the film's screenplay, the story leaves a lot to be desired.
At least in my opinion, one of the biggest problems with the story is that it's too episodic. The film's plot device - where the players have to find three different keys in order to inherit the company - in my view, feels rather forced and unnatural.
When it comes to those many 'celebrated' popular culture references in the film, I wasn't particularly impressed by them either. Even though it was cool to see some of those popular creatures in the virtual reality, it started to reek of 'fanboy' service rather quickly.
It also has to be said that the movie suffers from not having a clear message. It doesn't take a stand against the dangers of virtual reality, even though the whole movie is about the excesses of escaping reality and the dangers of the system.
After all, when the end result of the film is that the protagonist - after inheriting the company - decides to only limit the use of his 'Oasis' for others, that did not sit well with me. That was just a massive cop out that severely diluted the film's message.
Still, in the end, just because the movie had a lot of these problems in its story, that doesn't mean that I wasn't able to enjoy watching it. I'm not saying that you shouldn't watch it or that the film's story wouldn't keep you entertained.
After all, even though there were quite a few issues with the film's screenplay, that doesn't mean that these problems were too serious. Clearly the positive aspects were able to outweigh the negative aspects, when you put all things together.
In that sense, even though 'Ready Player One' could have been a better movie, it was still a watchable one. It was a watchable movie and kept me entertained, even though its screenplay could have been better and more organic in certain places.
In the film, as our protagonist, we have a young guy called Wade (Tye Sheridan), who spends most of his time in virtual reality. By using his special glasses, he's able to enter this another world where there are almost no limits on who you can be and what you can do.
When it comes to the plot of the movie, the catalyst of the film happens when the developer of the virtual reality (Mark Rylance) passes away. In his will, he's giving his company to the person who solves the puzzles that are hidden inside his virtual 'Oasis'.
Not surprisingly, this incident and revelation launches a massive hunt for his incredible inheritance. Individuals and corporations with their massive resources all over the country start searching for clues that could give them the keys to the ownership of the company.
So when it comes to things that I liked about this film, one of the best things about 'Ready Player One' is that it looks really good. There's no question that a lot of effort went into making sure that the movie would look as good as possible.
By that I mean that from start to finish, everything in the film looks amazing visually. The real world and the virtual reality world 'Oasis' both look so mesmerising and wonderful that it's hard to take your eyes off the movie screen.
This wonderful look of the movie becomes especially obvious during the film's numerous action scenes. There are so many crazy action scenes that you just can't help but to wonder how much time it took to make everything work.
At the same time, even though there are a lot of good things that can be said about 'Ready Player One', that doesn't mean that everything in the movie works. Especially when it comes to the film's screenplay, the story leaves a lot to be desired.
At least in my opinion, one of the biggest problems with the story is that it's too episodic. The film's plot device - where the players have to find three different keys in order to inherit the company - in my view, feels rather forced and unnatural.
When it comes to those many 'celebrated' popular culture references in the film, I wasn't particularly impressed by them either. Even though it was cool to see some of those popular creatures in the virtual reality, it started to reek of 'fanboy' service rather quickly.
It also has to be said that the movie suffers from not having a clear message. It doesn't take a stand against the dangers of virtual reality, even though the whole movie is about the excesses of escaping reality and the dangers of the system.
After all, when the end result of the film is that the protagonist - after inheriting the company - decides to only limit the use of his 'Oasis' for others, that did not sit well with me. That was just a massive cop out that severely diluted the film's message.
Still, in the end, just because the movie had a lot of these problems in its story, that doesn't mean that I wasn't able to enjoy watching it. I'm not saying that you shouldn't watch it or that the film's story wouldn't keep you entertained.
After all, even though there were quite a few issues with the film's screenplay, that doesn't mean that these problems were too serious. Clearly the positive aspects were able to outweigh the negative aspects, when you put all things together.
In that sense, even though 'Ready Player One' could have been a better movie, it was still a watchable one. It was a watchable movie and kept me entertained, even though its screenplay could have been better and more organic in certain places.
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