New Release Birb: Ready Player One

Ready Player One
Starring: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, and Ben Mendelsohn
Directed By Steven Speilberg
US Release Date: March 29th, 2018
My First Viewing: March 21st, 2018
image credit: movieposter.com

If you ever wondered what it would be like to see a futuristic sci-fi action film deep with 1980's nostalgia, Steven Spielberg presents Ready Player One, based on the 2011 Ernest Cline novel starring Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, and Ben Mendelsohn.

Set in the year 2045 in Columbus, Ohio, Wade Watts (Sheridan) is your average kid who, like many, escapes reality into the virtual world known as The Oasis and becomes Parzival. In the Oasis, you can essentially do anything, be anyone, and interact with people around the world. The more coin you have, your experiences in the Oasis can be just that much more enjoyable. When one of the creators of the Oasis passes away, he creates a scavenger hunt inside the Oasis to find three keys to unlock the Easter Egg, and gain control of the Oasis and win the prize of half a trillion (yes trillion) dollars.

Trying to find the Easter Egg in the Oasis is a very fitting way to describe your experience while watching this movie. There are so many moments of nostalgia and references, trying to keep track of everything you see is, much like some of the tasks in the scavenger hunt, is virtually impossible. It is a nostalgia bomb, but a fun one.

Sheridan and Cooke, who plays Art3mis in the Oasis, have a fun chemistry, but from a story standpoint, there are a few points where the movie falls flat. Mendelsohn's Nolan Sorrento, who oversees the IOI, a corporation who is looking to find the egg to control the Oasis, is an Internet troll in human form, and not in a way that you actually see him as a threat. Some characters are underdeveloped, like Hannah John-Kamen as Sorrento's heavy F'Nale, who I found very interesting and wanted to know more about them. I would see this for the experience alone, and see it on the biggest screen possible, but this is far from perfect.

Ready Player One is rated PG-13 for language, sci-fi violence, and suggestive material. Follow me on twitter here and let me know your thoughts and if you are looking forward to seeing this movie. If you enjoy what you are reading and want to support the evolution of MovieBirb, check out my Patreon page here.

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