Review: Ready Player One - Z Factor

Ready Player One

First View Review

by Z Factor

SPOILER FREE!!!

This review will be looking strictly as the movie as it stands, without any connection or comparison to the source material. The book, however, Ready Player One was written by Ernest Cline and published in 2011. It certainly didn't take long for the book to catch attention and turn into a feature length film, and directed by Steven Spielberg no less! I'm sure that would be any author's dream to have their novel turned into a movie directed by the legendary director. Without any other knowledge about the book, I walked into the theater with little idea as to what the movie was about, other than a bunch of 80's references and set in a virtual reality. I was very glad to not have any other information, so as to walk in blind and be totally surprised.

This movie has a fairly simple story (again, looking at the movie, not the book!) but it is a pretty strong structure, helped by it's likable characters. It's a hero's journey, where the unlikely protagonist finds himself flung into an extraordinary situation. The main character, Wade, is an Everyman. He isn't a necessarily unique character by any means, but rather a device in which any audience member can identify with and root for. He is also a flawed Everyman, who is ignorant and naive but grows along the journey, giving him a character-arch, leaving the story a totally different person than when it all began. This is one of the reasons why the story-structure is stronger than some, because of it's clear protagonist. The other characters are also very archetypal: the quippy sidekick Aech, the romantic damsel-in-distress Art3mes, and the antagonist Sorrento who is clearly labeled Bad Guy. 

Though the characters are archetypal, they're still likable and have heart in them. The story structure, which is any Hero's Journey, is helped by the likable heartfelt characters.

However, the main defining feature which sells this movie is not its story structure, characters or plot, but rather the action-packed spectacle. I haven't seen any other movie that I would describe simply as FUN. This movie is fun! It is a fun movie to just sit back and enjoy watching. Action sequences are done to Spielberg standards and the whole movie is incredibly entertaining. This is by no means a perfect film, it's not exactly original either, but it is FUN.

With that said, there are a few things that this movie does call into question, such as the relationship between reality and virtual reality. The movie's theme and moral is that reality is better because it's real. Not very deep, but straight and to the point. “Real is real and real is better. So...don't spend all your time and life in a video-game, guys!” is what the movie says. This is by no means a bad message! It is a good message. Yes, real is real and real is better. But, why?

The movie doesn't exactly show the consequences of why real is better, except through the character Halliday, who died without any loved ones or family and was the creator of the OASIS (the virtual reality). Yet all of Wade's friends were friendships formed not in the real world, but in the virtual one. Wade met Art3mes, his romantic interest, in the virtual world. And a lot of the movie's run-time is spent in the OASIS with their avatars, not the real people. The movie isn't saying video-games are bad, and it's true that video-games aren't bad, but certainly there are dangers to having friends online.

Another thing which isn't addressed in the movie is how people use their avatars as their identity. Meaning, they find their purpose and self worth in their avatar, who they want to be and who they want people to see them as. They don't want to be their true selves, but rather something else which they've created in the OASIS. Typically, someone hotter and cooler than they are, or at least how they see it. Unfortunately many people do find identity in their video-game avatars instead of themselves. Since the movie spends so much time with the characters in their avatar form, the audience knows its characters best as their avatars, not their human forms. The avatars are more or less merely an extension of that person's identity, a part of who they are. The only difference between the avatars and their human counterpart is the outward appearances and “cool” factor. The movie never addresses this issue of identity, but it's not a story about identity. It's a story about a boy playing a video-game which wins him a huge fortune and the pretty girl. Though real is real and real is good, there is more to that. There is a reason why real is good and how destructive false identity and living in a video-game can be. 

The scary thing about this movie is actually how real it is. By real, I mean how our reality is very close to how everything was portrayed in the film. The world is getting darker, more depressing, and more people, especially young people, have turned to video-games; not to mention VR games are more popular as time continues. Eventually someone will create something like the OASIS--a place where multiple people, maybe thousands of people, can come and play together. And because everyone's heads will be in their headsets, identities attached to fiction, those outside in the real world will have it for the taking. Identity, relationships, friendships, everything will no longer be real but virtual. The message that “real is real and real is good” is not exactly strong enough to help people see this. Especially when Wade made so many good friends and met a pretty girl in that same virtual reality.

Ready Player One was a movie made for this time and generation, where 80's nostalgia is big and VR is on its way to becoming bigger. It's also a movie that raises some questions though, and doesn't really answer them. Yet, it never intended to answer those questions. It isn't a serious movie discussing real world issues. It's a popcorn action-packed hero's journey with 80's music.

This movie is fun and I enjoyed this move very much. I am probably going to see it again in theaters. And, I highly recommend this film for anyone who is looking for a good time at the theater.

-Z Factor