Movie Review: Ready Player One

I read Ready Player One for the first time this year and I enjoyed the heck out of it! You can read my full review here. After reading it, I knew I had to see the movie so yesterday I went. I'm happy to report that I loved it! There was so much action and humor that it was just a really fun time! Here are some of my thoughts about it.

Book vs Movie?
If you’re looking for a replica of the events of the book, then this movie is not for you. It's pretty different. It was kind of like watching a fanfic of the book and I mean that in the best way possible. If you've read the book, you know there was no way that everything was going to end up in the movie. The licensing rights for everything would have been hella expensive. They had to change up a lot of things to use the rights they did get and made it work so the movie captured the essence of the book. There are way less obscure 80's references and more mainstream references that younger kids and teens will get. In my opinion, it worked out better in a lot of ways.

I had a few problems with the book and one of them was how flat of a character Art3mis was. The film made her into a more complex character and gave her a bigger role that wasn't just the convenient love interest one that she was relegated to in the book. I liked what they did with the High Five and that Aech had a bigger role in the movie too. I will admit that there was one character that I wish had had more of his bookish role but I really did like what they did with his character in the movie though.

The World Was Awesome!
I was a bit nervous to see what they how the film creators were going to represent the Oasis and the Stacks but I shouldn't have worried! Everything ended up so much better than I imagined it would! I loved how well they balanced the Oasis scenes with the real world segments! It really made the end message of the film hit home more. Also, the CGI for the Oasis scenes was absolutely stunning!

There's Pop Culture Everywhere!
As I mentioned before, getting as many of the licensing rights as they did was insane! Have I mentioned already how impressed I was that they got as many as they did? There are all sorts of pop culture references going back decades and a lot of them are from Warner Bros. movies. That makes sense since this movie is a Warner's property. The thing I found the most interesting was how there were no Steven Spielberg Easter eggs in the movie even though it was directed by him. They probably did that on purpose. I did love most of the substitutions they made. I'm still conflicted about the Iron Giant's involvement but I loved seeing him in the film.

Verdict?
While it wasn't the book, the movie was fun great and I loved it! I would highly recommend going and seeing as soon as you can!

   1/2

  4.5 / 5 Stars!