Expect to get bombarded, and like it. Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One imagines mega sensory overload in 2045. Prepare to be overwhelmed with games, avatars, and blasts from the past in this sci fi visual extravaganza. There is so much to digest here, especially if you lived through, or just love the 1980’s.
Tye Sheridan (Mud, Joe, X-Men Apocalypse) is Wade Watts but his game avatar is named Parzival. He lives alone in a dystopian world that became that way because of overpopulation. People literally live on top of each other. Yes, there are messages that surface about society throughout the film, especially about how we use technology.
This is Sheridan’s first foray into motion capture. He’s becoming an action star. But as an Avatar or as an actor, he’s a pretty regular guy. Sheridan says the first 8 weeks was all about green screen which makes up about 60% of the film. Sheridan was all hooked up and dotted head-to-toe with tracking markers and helmets mounted with cameras. But it was set up so the actors could see the backgrounds before acting out scenes. This way they knew what the world they were in looked like. Then when time came to take off the motion caption gear, they could imagine what was there. Sheridan said it was like going back to the pretend games he played as a kid.
The story is based on a book by Ernest Cline with a screenplay written by Cline and Zak Pen (The Avengers). Spielberg says this became one of his longest projects taking 3 years from the time he read the book until the film was finished. When you see it, you’ll know why. There is an incredible amount of detail and tons of 1980’s TV, movie and game references to take in and recognize in one sitting.
You’ll want to catch them all and those who don’t know what they are will probably want to research them, at the very least, at an arcade bar. We’ll name a few that got our screening audience excited. Godzilla, Donkey Kong, Hello Kitty, Back to the Future, T Rex from Jurassic Park, Chucky all got big reactions, but there are so many more. By the way, Spielberg says he was virtually unbeatable at Asteroids in the 80’s. That was his game.
The story follows a genius named James Halliday (Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies, Dunkirk) who is somewhat like the Steve Jobs of the future. He’s a mild mannered disheveled, child-like absent-minded professor who has created OASIS. It’s a virtual world where you, as an avatar, can escape dreaded reality and find whatever you want. Halliday was the figure head. His sidekick, Ogden Morrow (Simon Pegg – Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The World’s End) is somewhat like Steve Wozniak, the more techy partner. Pegg described Spielberg thinking up one particular scene. He set up 8 cameras to shoot the scene with Pegg and Sheridan about Halliday’s background. He had the actors do it over and over again, not because of the acting, but to get enough material from different angles so it could be edited together as if it was one continuous scene as if it was spinning.
Before Halliday dies, he records a video promising to leave half his multi trillion dollar fortune and control of his imaginary world, the OASIS, to whoever finds 3 keys he’s planted somewhere in his world. They are the keys to clues to find the winning digital Easter egg and his fortune. Those competing to find the egg are called “gunters.” It’s a crowded field.
Olivia Cooke plays savvy Samantha who is “gunter” avatar, Art3mis. Cooke is Australian but her American accent is spot on. She is part of a group called the High 5 who want to find the keys and the egg before the evil, greedy, Internet Tech CEO Nolan Sorrentino (Ben Mendelsohn – Darkest Hour, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) finds the egg to gain control of OASIS. Writer Lena Waithe (Writer-The Chi) plays Helen/Aech in this film. She provides just the right amount of comic relief as the driver who helps Parzival and Art3mis stay out of trouble.
The races and chases are massive and exciting. The strategies used by Parzival and Art3mis are totally unpredictable, as is the street smart, yet gentle characterization of Wade. Sheridan plays a regular guy well. You’re always pulling for him. And the competitive tension turns into chemistry as avatars Parzival and Art3mis go on their quest. It’s especially entertaining at the Zero G Discotheque floating off in mid air when the Saturday Night Fever dance floor pops up, music, moves and all. Hilarious.
This is eye candy at the extreme with so much detail you may want to see it again to catch all the references. But there are also many messages and issues that come up and make you think. Spielberg says making this movie messed with his head. He wants people to think about looking up from their screens and devices and learn to embrace reality. That’s where real relationships live. It’s also a lesson in being able to accept yourself for who you really are. Even Halliday says in the movie, “As painful as reality is, it’s the only place where you can get a decent meal.”
Warner Bros. 140 Minutes PG-13 Reviewed March 28, 2018
