Ready Player One (The Movie)
I already discussed at great length about Ready Player One the book. The book was an excellent romp through 80's pop culture. This movie is based on the book meaning that it follows the general plot and characters but is basically a remake. While this remake is excellent don't expect much of what was in the book to appear here.
What is the same as I said previously is the general plot. It's about Wade Watts who sets forth to uncover the mysteries of the Oasis (a VR world) set about by the worlds creator James Holliday. This manifests itself in a treasure hunt full of riddles that lead to three keys. These three keys are needed to unlock the final challenge. When completed the winner gains control over the Oasis's founding company and the future of the Oasis itself.
What is different between the book and movie is pretty much everything else. The three keys require three riddles and three events to get them. In the book the first key is found after exploring an Dungeons & Dragons quest dungeon. In the movie however they have an auto race loaded with traps and other challenges. Other changes include how the players meet up and the massive amounts of pop culture references.
While in both the references come fast and furious they book allows for a lot more imagination that movie copy rights won't allow. In the book the heroes and villains both had amazing stuff to use. Just about anything you can think of was used in the book from movies, video games, pop culture and more. The movie while loaded in it's own right doesn't show (or tell) much of Wades signature items. The book made constant use of the star wars universe but the movie has removed all but one mention.
Another thing is how they used the characters this time around. In the book Wade infiltrated IOI as part of the plot; the movie has Samantha (Art3mis) in that role. A side character in the book I'Rok gets moved to the front as a mercenary for hire for the movie. In the book Daito is killed by IOI but in the movie he is 11 years old (and lives). The book was able to better pace the relationship between Wade and Samantha; at the end of the book it was earned. The movie rushes through it and ends up being the movies weakest point.
There is a lot more to go over but in the end the movie pays off. The acting in this movie is solid and the set designs mirror the imagery depicted in the book amazingly well. The pacing of the film is done well; the film never feels like it over stays it's welcome and moves the scenes along at an appropriate pace. The movie makes massive use of computer generated graphics but it never wares thin. The real world and the world of the Oasis have their own unique looks as do the characters in both worlds.
Overall this movie has fulfilled most everything you could want in a movie of this genre. While I personally would of liked to have seen a few more of the books assets used what is here will have fans busy for months picking apart scenes. Since the film and movie are so different I can recommend them both equally! In the end, I have to give this movie an 9/10 I can't wait to see what comes next when Ready Player One gets it's upcoming sequel.
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