There has never been a shortage of film adaptations of novels. Sometimes, big screen versions of beloved titles lose the essence and nuance of the original story. However, many times, books are adapted into wonderful movies that manage to engage a much broader audience while still keeping the soul of the source material alive. Warner Bros. Ready Player One manages to do both.
As someone who read Ernest Cline’s novel and thoroughly enjoyed it, I was apprehensive going in…naturally. More often than not, you hear negatives about film adaptations of popular books and I’m sure there are still going to be some. However, I really enjoyed the movie quite a lot on its own merit. Sure, there are a lot of differences, but it’s not my job to nitpick all the differences between the two. Capturing both spirit of the book and the limitless imagination of the OASIS itself was the biggest hurdle when bringing this story to the big screen, but the film adaptation managed to do that well enough to please both those who have and haven’t read the book.
Set in the year 2045, the film focuses mostly on a digital world called the OASIS. Think of it as a massive multiplayer online game that evolved into its own community and eventually became its own reality. In a future where overpopulation has reached a tipping point on Earth, the OASIS is the one place everyone can go to enjoy whatever they like…the ultimate form of escapism. When, James Halliday, the creator of the system dies, in true Willy Wonka fashion, he leaves behind a contest to find three hidden keys to unlock his digital empire and gain control of the OASIS. After years of fruitless searching, one kid stumbles upon a forgotten clue and reignites the game all over again.
Describing this film as a visual masterpiece is accurate, but still doesn’t really do it justice. It’s probably the most polished work of computer imaging ever brought to the big screen. Maybe that’s saying a lot, but I’m standing by it. The quality of the rendering is exceptional, but most CGI is amazing these days. It was the production design by Adam Stockhausen who really did an astonishing job understanding the depth of the source material and making it palatable for the movie going audience. He brought a great deal of charm and character to a world that can be intimidating in its complexity and provided a nice canvas to work on, but it really only scratched the surface of how expansive the OASIS really can be. There is an incredible amount of depth there and I wouldn’t be surprised, or disappointed, to see some other stories get told inside that world.
If there are follow up film or spin offs, it’s unlikely that Steven Spielberg is going to direct any of those. While he did a wonderful job bringing this world and a version of the story to life, he was hesitant to take the job in the first place simply because of the scope of the project. There is simply so much detail that he was worried he wouldn’t be able to keep up, but fortunately for us he stuck with it. Strong themes of escapism combined with cautionary warnings about the internet and social media helped paint a much more modern narrative for the legendary director. The story was really a perfect springboard for him. Many of his most famous films have been adventure based and there’s a reason why he has become a household name on the backs of those films. There was no better director to helm the project than the man who was responsible for a sizeable chunk of the pop-culture influences within the pages of the novel. Self aggrandizement isn’t really his thing, but you’ll be able to spot some of his most iconic creations featured both prominently and subtly throughout the movie.
Our protagonist, Wade Watts/Parzival, is a poor high school kid living in a vertical trailer park in Columbus, Ohio. He doesn’t have much in the way of a life, so he spends his days inside the OASIS and has become a respectable player. He felt like a lot of other hero types we’ve seen throughout Spielberg’s career: young-ish, dorky, hopelessly romantic and unexpectedly brave. Tye Sheridan took the honors as our hero, but wasn’t especially strong in the role. He was definitely good and was able to get the point across, but much of the specific character details were stripped away in order to accommodate an expedited story arc.
Opposite Sheridan was Olivia Cooke as Atr3mis/Samantha. Another highly accomplished gamer within the OASIS, she is hyper focused on winning the contest to prevent Innovative Online Industries from controlling the future. She had just the right blend of appeal and accurately represented her character’s source material. Cooke is going to be a very hot commodity after this. She has already started to break through in film roles and had a standout performance in Thoroughbreds just a few weeks ago, but this is going to catapult her to the next level. As of right now, she is certainly one of the breakthrough performers of the year.
Ben Mendelsohn played the corporate asshole spectacularly as Nolan Sorrento. He’s a former Halliday employee who wants to monetize every aspect of digital life as much as possible. When the contest began, he was given the keys to the IOI kingdom in order to find the hidden “easter egg” and seize control of the OASIS. Mendelsohn’s role as the villain in Rogue One was one of the best parts of that film as well, but here he helped extend more slack to our group of heroes by being such a marvellous douchebag. The Australian actor has a had a much deserved recent string of success and while he wasn’t what I had pictured for Sorrento, he did a wonderful job.
Mark Rylance had the honor of playing Anorak/James Halliday, but sadly he wasn’t in it enough. The most decorated actor in the cast showed why he is an Academy Award winner and was often the funniest one on screen as well. Since the story takes place after his death, Rylance is limited to flashback in a digital library of Halliday’s memories. Even so, he was a wonderful Halliday although he wasn’t at all what I envisioned for the character. Maybe we’ll get to see more of his story down the line if the studio decides to expand the world of the OASIS.
In stories such as this one, friends are an important reflection of the main character. In this case, Lena Waithe really stole the show as Aech, Parzival’s best friend. The dialogue was certainly structured to punch up that angle, but that’s only half the battle. Because the film was shot using motion capture technology, there was still a lot of physical acting to be done. There were a few scenes in particular, I won’t spoil that for you, where Waithe completely took over the movie. Her cadence and general character appeal comes from her candor and no bullshit style. Of all the character translations from page-to-screen, hers was certainly one of the most fluid and perhaps the most accurate.
Taking the guy who wrote the wildly successful The Avengers for Marvel Studios and having the author of the novel on board to write the screenplay, went a long way in bridging the gap between the two mediums for this story. Zak Penn has a history with big budget adaptations, so it seemed like a natural step to have him join in on the script. Cline has become something of a cult figure in the pop-culture world and it was only fitting to have him help write the film adaptation of his own story. Between the two of them, they delivered a script that is both fun and funny but doesn’t require any heavy lifting. Much of the novel had to be chopped in order to save time and broaden the appeal of the story, but the end product still keeps the heart of the story intact.
My guess is that the book was too nerdy and too diverse in its approach to the keys, where as the film mostly stripped that away and stuck to TV and movie pop culture in order to streamline the story they put in place and to broaden the appeal. That being said, there is still plenty of things you may or may not catch in the background. The book is much deeper and more robust when it comes to the OASIS itself. The movie has to rush through much of the foundational work in order to get the show rolling. Much of the fanatical pop-culture references were removed because it was just too much for a film. There’s an educational aspect to the book in which the reader learns about a myriad of pop-culture references through Wade’s perspective. As the reader learns, the payoffs work wonderfully down the line, but there wasn’t enough time for that. The message is still mostly the same, but the book has a lot of minutia surrounding each clue and the key connected to it. While it was enjoyable to read, but probably too specific for the movie.
Edit: In my haste to get a review up for this movie. I failed to mention it’s soundtrack and the cinematography by Janusz Kaminski. There is so much going on throughout the film that it’s easy to get sidetracked. Kaminski had a lot of work to do considering the amount of digital shots, but he did a great job bringing the action to the audience and making it a sort of ride-along. As for the music, the film is loaded with classics that are sure to ensnare the target demographic. Adding to the fun, the music department got clearance rights to use other iconic film scores to punch up its own original music and those moments certainly didn’t go unnoticed.
There is really nothing bad to say about this movie, other than it’s not very deep. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, not every movie has to have some deeper meaning, but there’s much more depth in the source material that didn’t see its way to the screen. As a project, it might be too steeped in pop culture for some people, but there’s no way around that. Character portrayals across the board were all good, but there weren’t any game changing, must-see performances. Overall, the movie is completely enjoyable and even more so if you have some knowledge of the pop-culture represented.
Recommendation: If you’ve read the book, you gotta see it. If you haven’t read the book, go see it, but if you enjoy the movie then consider reading the book as well. Both parties should have a good time, even if one is more wholly satisfied than the other. IMAX 3D is absolutely the way to go. Sure, it’s a bit pricier, but for this film in particular it’s worth it.
Grade: B+