Ready Player One Movie 

This review is about the movie adaptation of Ready Player One. To see the book review click here: Ready Player One Review.

Movie Description: 
From filmmaker Steven Spielberg comes the science fiction action adventure “Ready Player One,” based on Ernest Cline’s bestseller of the same name, which has become a worldwide phenomenon. The film is set in 2045, with the world on the brink of chaos and collapse. But the people have found salvation in the OASIS, an expansive virtual reality universe created by the brilliant and eccentric James Halliday (Mark Rylance). When Halliday dies, he leaves his immense fortune to the first person to find a digital Easter egg he has hidden somewhere in the OASIS, sparking a contest that grips the entire world. When an unlikely young hero named Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) decides to join the contest, he is hurled into a breakneck, reality-bending treasure hunt through a fantastical universe of mystery, discovery and danger.

Review: 
As expected the movie didn’t stick to the book. What I didn’t expect was the competition to be completely changed. The competition was the main concept of the book and it was completely altered in the film. As I watched the film I took note of some of the things that had changed and stood out to me. So this review is spoiler ridden but I’ll let you know when that part is coming. First I want to discuss the film as its own thing. 

I found the movie to be alright, I would say maybe 2 or 3 star rating as it’s hard to seperate it from the book and not let that side interfere with the rating. I know for sure that it’s not the type of film that I would choose to watch again. One issue I had with the film was the heavy use of CGI. The way I pictured the OASIS when reading the book was for it to not feel like a game, as in the scenery but to look realistic. So I pictured their players to look like humans, to be played by actors in this case. This made the movie more disappointing since the scenes with the characters was completely CGI. 

However despite saying that I did find the characters personalities spot on to the book. They seemed to have captured their attitude and I think that’s one of things that helped me stick in and watch the film. That and the excuse to eat snacks. So although their in-game appearances were lacking, they at least showed their personality. Their human appearance was also spot on, except for Wade not being fat to begin with and Shoto being an 11 year old boy and Daito not being fat. 

Another thing I liked about the film version was seeing people using the OASIS in reality. They were just punching the air and running into things. This was something the book didn’t capture that I appreciated in the movie and was just a continuous funny side joke in the background of the storyline.

Considering I didn’t fully love the book, I wasn’t surprised to see parts of the movie that I preferred to the book. This included the removing of re-enactment of films when the players went through the gates. That was something I didn’t like in the books so I was glad was gone in the movie. I also think the opening scene race to find the first key was a more fun way to solve the egg than the original being going through a dungeon and playing a game of Joust. However this too wasn’t perfect as the way that Wade found out the clue to go backwards on the race track was very forced and not a good hidden clue like it was in the book. In fact none of the riddles in the movie were as good as the ones in the book.

Overall I felt like the movie was something that was just referencing the book rather than being the book and that's how it didn’t too well for me. It look away the main storyline and made it into something it’s not.

*SPOILERS*

Now it’s time to talk about points of the film.

So when the movie begins, it’s Wade heading to his hideout to play on the OASIS. Which is pretty accurate, he bumps into Mrs Gilmore and then proceeds to the hideout. Problem is his set up and the fact he isn’t going to school. He starts with a multi-directional treadmill instantly. There’s no way he could afford that and this stage. However what annoys me more is that school doesn’t happen at all. The first key is found in his school planet, instead in the movie it’s found by going backwards in a race. By taking away the school it really messes up the whole flow of the movie such as finding out his identity etc. 

All of the characters appearance were wrong, the one that was most upsetting was Aech. Aech was displayed as some weird monster guy with a missing torso. The whole thing about Aech’s character was that he was meant to be mistaken as a man rather than as Helen. So it was far too obvious that Aech real identity was going to be nothing like the character and ruined the reveal. 

Another change was to make the Almanac to be a museum of the sorts where you could go see everything about Halliday. I quite liked this change as its more visual than him reading a book but what I didn’t like was the introduction of a robot man called the Curator. He was an unnecessary added character. It turned out it was Og, who is meant to have a much bigger role and is known in the books for existence in the public eye. The Curator also ruined the way Wade gets his extra life coin. He’s meant to play pacman not win a simple bet. It made him an even bigger Mary Sue than he was in the books.

Another unnecessary extra character was i-R0k. He was the wizard that basically controlled the Orb. Except he ended up having a bigger role now by being a spy and assassin for Sorrento. There was just no need, they already had a team of people he could use for Wade.

A scene they kept that was only slightly altered was the dancing scene between Wade and Art3mis. This was well done and even included the breakup. Just the breakup aftermath didn’t come and didn’t last long at all. Then again wasn’t necessary since Wade was already skinny.

A scene that was improved was the deal making scene between Wade and Sorrento. Sorrento blows up Wade’s trailer and in the book it wasn’t emotional didn’t seem to care. In the movie he tries to warn his aunty so it was slightly more emotional which I appreciated. 

I think the thing that annoyed me the most was the fact we met all of the real people far too early. Wade met Art3mis in person really quick rather than right at the very end. This also happened with the other characters. Wade also teamed up with the High Five straight away and didn’t try very hard to be a soloist. The build up to team work was a very strong theme in the book that was took away in the movie. Also the true identities was meant to be a big reveal and it just was a let down. 

The second key was also drastically changed, they had to go through The Shining and find the girl Halliday loved. It was a funnier version but I just don’t understand why they changed the main part of the book. The challenges should have stayed roughly the same. Also by changing it, it meant they didn’t get their robots. Yet they still made an appearance to an extent. Aech built the Iron Giant and Sorrento still had MechaGodzilla and still fought but it wasn’t the same epic battle it could have been. 

A very frustrating change was the arrest of Art3mis. Wade should have been purposely arrested to steal data and to stop the shield over the final challenge. Instead Art3mis gets accidentally arrested and does the same thing. Why change the person who gets arrested. There was just no need. It added intensity that wasn’t needed.

The movie took out the killing of Daito. This was a great part of the book and he didn’t do much when they kept him alive so why keep him alive. Daito’s death added dramaticness and also gave the government the excuse they needed to arrest Sorrento for his murder. Sorrento still got arrested but only for the explosion. 

I just find it annoying that people who create movies change the good parts and leave out interesting parts. I don’t expect 100% accuracy but I at least expect it to resemble the book.

Rating: 2.5 runes out of 5 

Accuracy Rating: 2 runes out of 5 

Check out the book review: Ready Player One

written by Lauren