Ready Player One was not exactly the movie I was
expecting.
As a thirty-something geek who has read Ernest Cline’s
highly-immersive novel, I was looking forward to an epic mash-up of all the stuff
and characters that made my childhood great.
I was looking forward to seeing Japanese mecha fighting alongside the
heroes of the of my favourite Saturday morning cartoons flying in vehicles from
my favourite 80s movies.
Prior to watching the movie, I reread the book, and this is
where the problem lies. The highly
immersive book, with at least twice the number of retro pop-culture references has set the bar so high that watching the
movie version left me unsatisfied. In
order to streamline the story and make the book friendlier to the PG crowd, the
movie’s writers have changed a lot of the major plot points in the book. The changes were so drastic that it almost
felt like it was totally different story from the book. Since this is a spoiler-free review, I will
be comparing the book and the movie in a separate article.
Setting the book aside,
the movie is a great piece of work.
Eye-popping visuals combined with the plenty of pop-culture references
makes for a highly entertaining movie which would keep you glued to the screen watching
for the next cameo. You would definitely
want to rewatch the movie just to catch all of the easter eggs that you may
have missed. If you have not read the
book and watched the movie, it’s best that you watch the movie first, then after,
read the book.
Final Verdict
Take the movie as it is- a fun and action-filled tribute to
some of the greatest and most memorable characters in 80s-90s pop-culture. Enjoy the movie and try not to compare too
much with the book.
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