Ready Player One

Why is everyone so astonished that Spielberg is a master of his craft? It’s no miracle that one of the best craftsmen and storytellers around is still able to do what he has always done. Ready Player One rather makes it clear how miserable other blockbusters in recent years have been. Even though RPO runs like clockwork, a rotten heart beats in its core. Behind the exalted adoration of 1980s pop culture, there is a tremendously depressing vision of the future. How else can we interpret a world that is unbelievably technologically advanced, yet culturally fixated on the artifacts of the eighties and nineties or, said more precisely, that voluntarily devours the pop culture of the 1980s and memorialises it in the smallest detail. Peculiarly, behind everything stands a forlorn, egocentric and megalomaniacal nerd who draws to himself and his favourite titles the absolute attention of the whole world with the siren song of mammon and power. The narrative of the film actually brings forth a terrifying vision of the futility of the lives of fans who hope that someone will remember them after they die, but then come to the horrifying realisation that the only thing that they have left behind is the large number of video games, movies and comics that they consumed. Though the author of the novel on which the film is based probably intended something different, Ready Player One shows an aging nerd’s wishful thinking that the titles he adores and that mean so much to him should have some sort of relevance in the mid-21st century. If we go even deeper, the whole film-adaptation project is a perverse myth which, when taking off the rose-coloured glasses, shows how pop culture devours itself while also shaping its followers and their idols thanks to the illusion that a fan can become a star. The film’s narrative only serves to reinforce the sad idea that obsessive knowledge of pop culture makes some sort of sense and could even be the key to success and wealth. Of course, there must also be the idealisation of pop culture as a work of inner creativity and not of industry, not to mention the illusion that its creations belong to fans and users rather than to corporations and license holders. Ready Player One combines all of these myths at the level of storytelling and in the project itself. It is impossible to view with anything other than amazement the ingenuity with which the corporate monster disseminates its gospel when it broadcasts to the world legends about how difficult it must have been to obtain licenses for individual cited artifacts and how the only one who could manage to pull it off is the universally adored Spielberg. But if we persist in our search, then one of us, the one who ties together all of the references in RPO, will be a star of the internet and, if it suits the corporate hydra, will shoot a film according to his or her own list. And the worst part of all of this is that it will actually be worth watching. (05/13/2018)

A very free adaptation of the book by Ernest Cline, updated both for the modern generation and for movie fans. It’s been a long time since Spielberg filmed something so playful and purely for entertainment and his classic trademarks are to be seen throughout. Even if the tasks relating to the keys are totaling different, the core of the story remains the same and it is Mark Rylance’s acting that carries the movie on his shoulders. His Halliday has the perfect parameters of endearing madness and so his classic truths about life don’t sound banal. The message that the Internet isn’t everything isn’t as important as the unbelievable serving of entertainment that a mass of fans enjoy during re-screening and looking for “their" thing. The action is awesome and packed to bursting with references. There is something for everyone (in my case the Godzilla theme), what worked for you? (03/28/2018)

Steven Spielberg took all of this experience from previous movies and put it into this sci-fi novelty Ready Player One. In addition to that, he’s also used all the talent that’s made his career and created a perfect blockbuster movie that anyone must love.Furthermore, he had the audacity to divide the blockbuster into two parts, real-action and an animated one that takes the cake. And then if that wasn’t enough, the animated part turns into reality to prove what kind of genius he is. Hats off! Ready Player One is simply amazing. It beautifully uses 1980s and 1990s themes and Steven’s nailed so many pop-culture references that it’s made me a little melancholic. For example, when he toys around with Kubrick’s The Shining, I was wondering whether he wasn’t overdoing it with his genius. But then again, there isn’t that many genius moments, which made me wonder whether he couldn’t have squeezed a little more out of the 1980s and 1990s. Especially music-wise, this could have been brilliant. Anyways, I get it, he simply filmed it the way he wanted to. For example, the ending had the perfect punch. Mark Rylance might have stolen a good chunk of the movie all for himself, but I didn’t really mind, I’m actually glad that Steven discovered him and even more glad that he cast him. In the Bridge of Spies, he proved to me how great an actor he is. And here he repeated it again without any problems. Splendor. And I hope this is not the last splendor as far as the Spielberg-Rylance collaboration goes. However, it’s not that the other actors don’t deserve any praise – I’ll simply say that they are on the same level as the entire movie. (04/18/2018)

Steven Spielberg is back in form after a very long time and he made a very nice Nerdgasm, which will take you back not only to the 80s and 90s, but also to your childhood, when you played the first game on Nintendo or Playstation. The movie already has potential cult status and we may be in for a new video game movie heyday. Tye Sheridan, the main character, and Olivia Cooke are very likable in both the real world and in Oasis, and the villain bearing the name Nolan is solid as well, which doesn't seem like a coincidence. Graphically it's very good, the action is varied and entertaining (though there could have been a lot more of it). The best of it comes right at the beginning in the form of a race where we're treated to King Kong and a Tyrannosaurus Rex, then there’s really just the grand finale, unless you count some minor action digressions. The references and Easter Eggs are very good, there are plenty of them and it's almost impossible to spot them all on first viewing. This is an enjoyable original film that is fun, brisk and nicely colored, but I would have liked more humor and more crazy action to complete satisfaction. Still, I look forward to a second viewing. 80% (03/30/2018)

Better than the original that is too broad and targeted both at young people as a genre movie and at nostalgic viewer in their thirties. The film adaptation addresses most of the shortcomings, adjusts the tasks for the screen, understands pop culture and commercial video games, withstands a deliberate and stylized digital mess, does not overuse allusions, but the final footage is to excessive. You never start to care for the characters, and it keeps being silly (especially the solutions of the first and third task, there is no need to dedicate your whole life to that, the racing "glitch" would discover even a troll during the first race and the solution of the last task would be obvious to most players 30+ at first glance). In any case, after a long time, Spielberg is back as an “adult with a soul of a child", so he plays with the format, pace of narration (OASIS versus the real world) and often even in a surprisingly imaginative way work with pop culture (especially setting of the second task, it will make you smile. Generally speaking, these horror allusion are one of the most successful ones ever). The resulting megamix of pop-cultural easter eggs, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matrix, traditionally filmed Amblin movies, Sucker Punch and The Last Action Hero is significantly better than what the trailers made us expect. It's even so good that these few annoying weak moments will be even more disappointing. (03/28/2018)