Ready Player One review: Spielberg’s nostalgic sci-fi is a blast from the blue.
Ready Player One review by Freda Cooper.
Ready Player One review
When Spielberg started work on fan-favourite Ready Player One, his first move was to delete any references to himself. He may have been behind some of the biggest films of the 80s, but he knew the resulting film wouldn’t be short on nostalgia. And what he’s made overflows with references to the decade – visual, verbal and musical – as well as breathtaking energy and action. Yet scratch it’s blue surface and underneath is a Spielberg adventure of the classic kind.
Blue is the overriding colour of The Oasis, a VR world that preoccupies every teenager in post-apocalyptic 2045. For Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), who lives in the low income The Stacks in Columbus, Ohio, it’s his escape from real life, a world where the possibilities are endless. Its creator, Halliday (Mark Rylance) died several years ago, leaving behind a competition to find the new owner of The Oasis. Wade is just one of the many trying to win that ultimate prize but the corporate world, in the shape of Innovative Online Industries (IOI), is dedicated to winning it as well, employing hundreds of people to do it. Along with his friends, Wade is up against everything IOI can throw at them in both the real and virtual worlds. A David v Goliath story inside and outside a VR headset.
Ready Player One review
If ever a book begged to be turned into a Spielberg film, it’s Ready Player One. Those 80s references start with a soundtrack including Van Halen’s Jump and never look back. Tim Burton’s Batman, The Iron Giant, Chucky, Clark Kent and Godzilla all put in appearances, alongside the Zemeckis Cube, first cousin of the one invented by Rubik, and Halliday’s split with his business partner which bears more than a passing resemblance to the falling out between Messrs Jobs and Wozniak. And, as the icing on the cake, there’s a section devoted to 80s movies, The Shining in particular. Movies run in the director’s blood and he’s like a kid in a sweetshop. The audience isn’t far behind him.
But, despite its hi-tech appearance, this is also classic Spielberg, harking back to earlier success like E.T. Wade is the solitary child who has to fend for himself and feels isolated from the rest of the world – in this case, the real world. As Parzival, his avatar in The Oasis, he’s more than at home. It makes for a rollercoaster of an adventure, crammed with action and energy that leaves you breathless, and with a hero to cheer for and a villain to boo. One where low-tech also fits surprisingly comfortably, from the rickety caravans of The Stacks and the abandoned car wrecks to how IOI’s boss Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn) reminds himself of the password that gives him access to The Oasis. On a scrap of a Post-It note.
Ready Player One review
Ready Player One could also end up occupying an important place in the Spielberg canon, one where he introduced himself to a new generation. While the film appears to be aimed at gamers – and it certainly appeals to them – it also keeps a firm grip on those in the audience who remember the 80s and are more familiar with his work. It’s a neat, and very savvy, move. Just as important, it demonstrates that his love of movies, and of making them, shows no sign whatsoever of diminishing. Energetic, action-packed and a feast for the eyes, Spielberg has done it again!
Ready Player One review by Freda Cooper, March 2018.
Ready Player One is released in the UK on Thursday, 29th March.
