‘Ready Player One’ Is A Virtual Joyride

Many action and science fiction films get bogged down with romantic subplots and personal backstories that feel irrelevant compared to the thrills and chaos of the adventure. In stark contrast, “Ready Player One” is simply fun—and consciously so. While the film is lacking in some traditional measures of quality, “Ready Player One” sticks to its strengths—CGI and ’80s film nostalgia—delivering an experience that’s pure pleasure.

In 2045, a virtual reality video game known as “the OASIS” allows individuals to create their own perfect worlds. In this world, the virtual takes precedence over the real, and everyone’s main goal is to collect coins within the OASIS to the point where dying in the video game (and losing all of the coins accumulated) can push people to the brink of suicide in the real world. After the OASIS’s creator James Halliday (Mark Rylance) dies, he posthumously announces via video a challenge to find three keys, or Easter eggs, hidden within the game. The player who finds all three keys will gain control of the OASIS, now the most financially valuable asset on the planet. Protagonist Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), known within the game as Parzival, is a Gunter (“egg hunter”), one of many individuals attempting to find the keys and win the competition. Meanwhile, a rival corporation known as Innovative Online Industries (IOI), run by the slimy Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), is putting all of its resources into finding these Easter eggs in order to dominate the tech industry.

Spielberg shirks character development for a fast-paced plot and intense action, though surprisingly, not necessarily to the detriment of the film. When Wade suffers a personal loss, Spielberg elides depicting his grief on-screen. Rather, the plot moves immediately to the next task Wade must undertake to find the keys. The budding in-game romance between Wade and Art3mis (Olivia Cooke), a fellow Gunter, serves less as emotional payoff and more as a plot device to propel the action forward. Wade’s other friends from the OASIS, Aech (Lena Waithe), Sho (Philip Zhao), and Daito (Win Morisaki) similarly dwell very little on their personal backstories; their only purpose is to help Wade defeat IOI. The focus on plot and action over characters keeps the film highly entertaining, while avoiding the risk of over-sentimentality. In “Ready Player One,” the storyline matters more than the characters it affects so long as the pace and visuals deliver.

Stunning special effects, courtesy of production designer Adam Stockhausen, serve as the high-point of the movie. The first challenge to obtain a key, a virtual drag race, includes crazy explosions, swinging wrecking balls, a rampaging T-Rex, and a run-in with King Kong. The film’s CGI designers eschew realism to make it clear whether the characters are in the real or virtual world. The graphics also recreate pop-culture staples including the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Halo, the Iron Giant, and Chuckie. The nods to these cultural icons capture the lasting importance of quality entertainment, implying these titans will still be relevant 27 years in the future. The constant barrage of effects and visually-interesting environments more than make up for the aforementioned lack of character development and are reminders that “Ready Player One,” like a video game, is ultimately about constant fun.

The film focuses much more heavily on action, but it nevertheless retains its emotional core. “Ready Player One” taps into sentiments about childhood, specifically the joy of playing games with friends. When scenes switch between the game and the real world, it places the action in context: what feels like life-or-death within the OASIS is just a group of friends spending time together. The film makes a point of highlighting that the most fulfilling part of playing a game is just that—finding pleasure in the play even when it becomes competitive. “Ready Player One” commits to this simple joy throughout the film, a dedication that lends to its success.