Ready Player One | Teen Ink

Ready Player One

December 16, 2018
By MovieReviewer_18 ELITE, Short Hills, New Jersey
MovieReviewer_18 ELITE, Short Hills, New Jersey
678 articles 0 photos 8 comments

 Ready Player One is a science fiction movie based off of the book of the same name. The movie takes place in the near future and is directed by the notorious Stephen Spielberg. In the year 2045, most of the world is overpopulated and depressing. It seems as if the entire world is on the brink of collapsing and erupting in utter chaos. Since there aren't that many reasons left to want to be in the real world, majority of the population has decided to live most of their lives in a virtual reality setting known as the OASIS. When people put on special virtual reality headsets, they are able to exist in the OASIS and find their own salvations there. In this setting, people are capable of being whatever they want to be, and they can do just about anything there imagination allows. This virtual reality universe has very few limits and is the prized jewel of James Halliday. James Halliday is an eccentric, socially-awkward billionaire who created the game and was greatly influenced by all of the pop culture that he adored. When Halliday dies, he displays a pre-recorded video of him that has him explaining that in the OASIS, there is one digital Easter egg, and whoever finds the egg gets to become the sole proprietor of the OASIS and gain half a trillion dollars in the process. However, Halliday ensured to make finding the egg difficult. For starters, in order to get the Easter egg, the player needs to be in possession of three separate keys that are insanely hard to get. Since clues need to be discovered in order to help the users find the keys, which are needed to capture the Easter egg, achieving this goal becomes an almost impossible one. When an underdog named Wade Watts decides to join in the treasure hunt, since he doesn't have much to live for in the real world, he experiences an adventure that is action-packed and filled to the brim with mystery, drama, obstacles, and decisions that might forever change his life, as he embarks on a race with his friends to find the Easter egg before the evil IOI, who want to find the Easter egg so they can profit over the game and turn the game into a place where they constantly force all of their users to pay outrageous prices, but IOI has power and connections that allow them to torture Wade in ways he can't even begin to imagine. 
 Ready Player One is overall a really solid movie that is, for the most part, a thrilling adventure that keeps the adrenaline pumping and doesn't hit on the brakes. The beginning of the movie brilliantly starts things off and introduces audiences to the awesome virtual reality universe in a truly mesmerizing way. The middle of the movie marvelously progresses the film along and proudly manages to develop scores of character development. The enticing end of the movie is enjoyable and entertaining, but some of the moments leading up to this end have a few tiny plot holes, which is extremely unfortunate, since this is one of the movie's only flaws. 
 Ready Player One benefits tremendously from having some truly vivid visual effects that bring the virtual reality universe to life. These spectacular special effects are amazing, note-worthy, and add a realistic-esque to the movie that helps with making viewers think that the OASIS could actually exist in the not-so-distant future. 
 Ready Player One also constantly references famous pop culture, so watching the characters interact in the OASIS is like seeing a video game that meshes together fan-favorite television shows, movies, and video games to create an idyllic heaven for those who enjoy science fiction pop culture. The tone of the movie manages to mix together a healthy combination of perfectly-timed jokes with enough seriousness to ensure that the movie is right for a slightly mature audience, but that it isn't too serious to the point that is becomes depressing and overly-dark. 
 Ready Player One seems to sit spectacularly well with viewers, and critics seemed to be fairly satisfied with the film. Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie a solid 73%, which isn't the highest score out there but is far from being a failure. IMDb gave the movie a 7.5/10, which is actually impressive, since they are known to generally give lower scores. However, a fantastic 93% of Google users liked the movie, which helps to showcase that the movie seems to sit bet with viewers who are just looking for an exciting experience. 
 Ready Player One isn't Stephen Spielberg's finest movie of all time, but it is a triumphant hit for viewers who are looking for a movie that combines futuristic technology, a good tone, astonishing visuals, and a movie that makes audiences feel an entire spectrum of emotions. Game on.


The author's comments:

"My name’s Wade Watts. My dad picked that name because it sounded like a superhero’s alter-ego, like Peter Parker or Bruce Banner, but he died when I was a kid, my mom too, and I ended up here. Sitting here in my tiny corner of nowhere, there’s nowhere left to go. Nowhere, except The Oasis. A whole virtual universe. People come to The Oasis for all the things they can do, but they stay because of all the things they can be. It’s the only place that feels like I mean anything." - Wade Watts


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