Ready Player One - Review (Non-Spoiler/Spoiler)
Directed By: Steven Spielberg
Rating: PG-13
Starring: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Simon Pegg, TJ Miller, Mark Rylance, Hannah John-Kamen
Expectations/Background: When I first heard of the next movie that visionary director Steve Spielberg was going to direct, I scratched my head. I confess that I had not heard much about the novel that this movie was to be based on, but regardless, I thought Spielberg had found his niche in Oscar-caliber movies and away from blockbuster type films (BFG). And to be quite frank, I had not heard much of this movie since the production began. Until the first trailer - and I confess that I did not like any of the trailers at all. Granted, a film cannot be judged on their marketing; a great trailer can produce a terrible film and vice versa. But if I had any interest in seeing this film, it dissipated immediately after seeing the first footage. The only reason in particular, come Easter, that I decided to give this film a shot was the positive word of mouth - most of the critics said that this film was awesome and worth a watch, and since there weren't many other films out, I gave it a shot. I went in completely dark, knowing nearly nothing about this movie, and what I got was...
The Movie: A vast disappointment, in my opinion, by Spielberg standards. The visionary director, directing masterpieces such as Jaws, ET, Jurassic Park, and even The Post comes out and directs this film, which baffled me. To be quite fair to the illustrious career of the great Spielberg, this film was bad only as compared to his filmography. As a film, on its own, it's enjoyable. That's as much as I'm willing to give it - it's not great, it's barely good, but it certainly is enjoyable.
Positives: For the most part, the performances in this movie were good. The characters felt real enough given the world that they were living in, and most of their interactions were fine. There are obviously certain characters that I enjoyed much more than others, but overall, the people that we as an audience want to focus on are fun enough to watch onscreen.
I will give the film this - at first, I thought the CGI in the video game parts of the movie was quite jarring; I understand that the film was meant to be a "video-game"-type film, but it was still rather jarring at first. But after awhile, it did become bearable (more on it later though).
What this film has going for it is its fast-pace. Save for one scene, this film breezes by. The worst thing a film like this can do is drag; but luckily, Spielberg makes 2+ hours seem like much less because of how brisk the film is. There are certain MacGuffins that the characters that must go get, and what this film feels like is a hunt. It almost feels like a heist movie at some points.
There's also plenty of fan-service. A major concern I had entering the film was whether or not the references would be distracting or not. We all knew when we saw the Iron Giant that this film would be full of fun surprises. And I am pleased to say that 99 percent of the references made in the movie are not distracting at all. I think that this is one of the strongest points of the movie - Spielberg is able to weave in so many different winks and nods into the story in a way that makes it rewarding to the eagle-eyed fan, and fun even for the casual moviegoer. Not only that, but a lot of the references play a huge part in the story. There's a particular extended reference/scene in the movie that delves deep into a movie, which I enjoyed immensely as a movie fan. I'm not quite sure how other casual film fans would react to deep cuts like that, but I thought that most of them were great.
And finally, it's a feel good movie. The film's brisk pace and warm emotion that the film attempts to elicit does give the film some sense of closure. There aren't any real twists or turns in this movie, but that's alright, I suppose. This isn't a very deep film, but when you exit the theater, you don't feel awful, like you've been sitting in a dark room for 2 and a half hours.
Negatives: Before I begin this section of the review, I would like to say - this section will be long and extensive. HOWEVER, that is not to say that I hated this film. I think there are so many things that Spielberg could have done better, and that's what I'm here to point out. But as pointed out earlier and as I will point out later in the Verdict section, I did enjoy this film.
While I think that most of the characters were fun to watch, I think that there are a few characters that were awful, and almost absolutely useless. I understand that this film was adapted from a book, but I also know that this film took many, many liberties when it came to the adaptation, and I think that some of these characters should have been cut.
There are so many different plot conveniences as well. The way certain characters meet, the places they magically end up, it maddened me at certain points in the film. There's this one place that the characters constantly visit that was so incredibly convenient that I was amazed it was even there. Not only that, but the fact that the characters know EXACTLY what they want from this particular location without much thought confused me even more.
And here's one of the biggest flaws of this movie; the dialogue and how it was used. Let me start off by saying that, no joke, about 30-40 percent of this film's dialogue was conveyed through narration. I understand that there is a lot of dense material in this movie, but by the time the two hours was done, I had my fill with hearing voiceovers. It felt extremely lazy.
Alluding to earlier points that I made earlier, yes I did get used to the CGI. But not completely. I mentioned it in my Positives section because I believe that it won't necessarily detract from your enjoyment of the film. But, and again I understand what the source material was, watching video game-like characters for about 60 percent of the film was a little jarring and annoying. Perhaps this was my mistake, not knowing what I was getting into, but whenever the video game characters came back on the screen, it took me a couple minutes to get used to. Thankfully, near the second and third acts, the film transitions back to the real world a lot more often, but for the first hour, the CGI bogged the film down significantly.
I will talk about this more in my spoiler section, but as fast-paced as this film is, there is one 10-20 minute sequence in the film that I thought was almost completely unnecessary. There was exposition spit out like it was nothing; there is an attempted line of dialogue that tries to paint one of the main characters in a more vulnerable and human light, but it really just felt so lazy.
And lastly (more on the villains later), what I didn't like about this film was how video-game-like in nature it felt in terms of the story. Let me reiterate, I know EXACTLY what the source material is. But that isn't an excuse to make the STORY like a video game. What really turned me off of this film was that visually it looked like a video game, and structurally, it felt like a video game. It was very much, oh let's get here, checkpoint, let's get there, checkpoint, final boss, we're done.
Positives: For the most part, the performances in this movie were good. The characters felt real enough given the world that they were living in, and most of their interactions were fine. There are obviously certain characters that I enjoyed much more than others, but overall, the people that we as an audience want to focus on are fun enough to watch onscreen.
I will give the film this - at first, I thought the CGI in the video game parts of the movie was quite jarring; I understand that the film was meant to be a "video-game"-type film, but it was still rather jarring at first. But after awhile, it did become bearable (more on it later though).
What this film has going for it is its fast-pace. Save for one scene, this film breezes by. The worst thing a film like this can do is drag; but luckily, Spielberg makes 2+ hours seem like much less because of how brisk the film is. There are certain MacGuffins that the characters that must go get, and what this film feels like is a hunt. It almost feels like a heist movie at some points.
There's also plenty of fan-service. A major concern I had entering the film was whether or not the references would be distracting or not. We all knew when we saw the Iron Giant that this film would be full of fun surprises. And I am pleased to say that 99 percent of the references made in the movie are not distracting at all. I think that this is one of the strongest points of the movie - Spielberg is able to weave in so many different winks and nods into the story in a way that makes it rewarding to the eagle-eyed fan, and fun even for the casual moviegoer. Not only that, but a lot of the references play a huge part in the story. There's a particular extended reference/scene in the movie that delves deep into a movie, which I enjoyed immensely as a movie fan. I'm not quite sure how other casual film fans would react to deep cuts like that, but I thought that most of them were great.
And finally, it's a feel good movie. The film's brisk pace and warm emotion that the film attempts to elicit does give the film some sense of closure. There aren't any real twists or turns in this movie, but that's alright, I suppose. This isn't a very deep film, but when you exit the theater, you don't feel awful, like you've been sitting in a dark room for 2 and a half hours.
Negatives: Before I begin this section of the review, I would like to say - this section will be long and extensive. HOWEVER, that is not to say that I hated this film. I think there are so many things that Spielberg could have done better, and that's what I'm here to point out. But as pointed out earlier and as I will point out later in the Verdict section, I did enjoy this film.
While I think that most of the characters were fun to watch, I think that there are a few characters that were awful, and almost absolutely useless. I understand that this film was adapted from a book, but I also know that this film took many, many liberties when it came to the adaptation, and I think that some of these characters should have been cut.
There are so many different plot conveniences as well. The way certain characters meet, the places they magically end up, it maddened me at certain points in the film. There's this one place that the characters constantly visit that was so incredibly convenient that I was amazed it was even there. Not only that, but the fact that the characters know EXACTLY what they want from this particular location without much thought confused me even more.
And here's one of the biggest flaws of this movie; the dialogue and how it was used. Let me start off by saying that, no joke, about 30-40 percent of this film's dialogue was conveyed through narration. I understand that there is a lot of dense material in this movie, but by the time the two hours was done, I had my fill with hearing voiceovers. It felt extremely lazy.
Alluding to earlier points that I made earlier, yes I did get used to the CGI. But not completely. I mentioned it in my Positives section because I believe that it won't necessarily detract from your enjoyment of the film. But, and again I understand what the source material was, watching video game-like characters for about 60 percent of the film was a little jarring and annoying. Perhaps this was my mistake, not knowing what I was getting into, but whenever the video game characters came back on the screen, it took me a couple minutes to get used to. Thankfully, near the second and third acts, the film transitions back to the real world a lot more often, but for the first hour, the CGI bogged the film down significantly.
I will talk about this more in my spoiler section, but as fast-paced as this film is, there is one 10-20 minute sequence in the film that I thought was almost completely unnecessary. There was exposition spit out like it was nothing; there is an attempted line of dialogue that tries to paint one of the main characters in a more vulnerable and human light, but it really just felt so lazy.
And lastly (more on the villains later), what I didn't like about this film was how video-game-like in nature it felt in terms of the story. Let me reiterate, I know EXACTLY what the source material is. But that isn't an excuse to make the STORY like a video game. What really turned me off of this film was that visually it looked like a video game, and structurally, it felt like a video game. It was very much, oh let's get here, checkpoint, let's get there, checkpoint, final boss, we're done.
The Villain(s): Going into the movie, I really didn't have a clue who the villains were. I had heard mention of a couple of actors that were playing the villains, but I didn't know. What I will say about the main "bad guy" is that he did his part. The character that he was given was a complete stereotype, and there was a poor piece of dialogue that paints him as a maniacal figure, but he served his role. There were two other supporting villain characters that I thought were awful. I had no idea why they had such a huge role in the film, and I thought that they should have been cut.
The Music/Score: Alan Silvestri composed the score for this particular film, and I thought he did a fine job. There wasn't much memorable about the score other than the opening video game-type opening score with the logo. And there was this one moment near the end of the film where he utilized the orchestra in a really cheesy way that made me laugh. But other than that, nothing memorable.
Spoilers: While I did think the chemistry between Artemis and Parsival was good, both in-game and in the real world, the way they met, the way she found him in the real world, and the awful, clunky dialogue that they were given completely took me out of it.
Also the aunt dying was a complete and total cheap shot; I had no idea why they did that and when it happened, I didn't care at all about her because they really didn't develop her character or her relationship with Wade.
In reference to the scene I thought that should have been taken out, I'm referring to the night-club dance scene. I have absolutely no idea why it was there (I'm sure Spielberg could convince me if he wanted to) but it served no obvious or useful purpose in my mind. That was the one time where I found myself not enjoying the movie as "Staying Alive" was playing in the background.
Nolan Serrento was fine, but the two characters that I think should have been taken out were F'Nale and i-Rok. While I understood their roles (though F'Nale, not as much), I had no idea why they were onscreen that much. They really didn't need to be there in the capacity that they were.
The Music/Score: Alan Silvestri composed the score for this particular film, and I thought he did a fine job. There wasn't much memorable about the score other than the opening video game-type opening score with the logo. And there was this one moment near the end of the film where he utilized the orchestra in a really cheesy way that made me laugh. But other than that, nothing memorable.
**READER DISCRETION ADVISED - SPOILER ALERT - IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SPOILERS SKIP TO "VERDICT"**
Spoilers: While I did think the chemistry between Artemis and Parsival was good, both in-game and in the real world, the way they met, the way she found him in the real world, and the awful, clunky dialogue that they were given completely took me out of it.
Also the aunt dying was a complete and total cheap shot; I had no idea why they did that and when it happened, I didn't care at all about her because they really didn't develop her character or her relationship with Wade.
In reference to the scene I thought that should have been taken out, I'm referring to the night-club dance scene. I have absolutely no idea why it was there (I'm sure Spielberg could convince me if he wanted to) but it served no obvious or useful purpose in my mind. That was the one time where I found myself not enjoying the movie as "Staying Alive" was playing in the background.
Nolan Serrento was fine, but the two characters that I think should have been taken out were F'Nale and i-Rok. While I understood their roles (though F'Nale, not as much), I had no idea why they were onscreen that much. They really didn't need to be there in the capacity that they were.
SPOILER ALERT OVER
The Verdict:. To be quite honest, when I walked out of the film, I was in disbelief that Spielberg directed this movie. This seemed like a film directed by the likes of a JJ Abrams or someone like that. That being said, it's enjoyable enough that if you sit through it and watch it, you won't be bored for most of the film. The characters are fun enough to watch for the most part, the story moves along briskly enough, and it's never really dull. It's a good time at the movies, but at the same time, it's a vast disappointment. Letter Grade: B-. Number Score: 6.8/10
**IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER**: Letter grades and Number grades do not mean the same thing. Just because I give a film an A does not mean it gets a 9.5 or above. They do not line up like a traditional school grading system To see specifics, see below.
A- to A+: Amazing
B- to B+: Enjoyable, but Flawed
C- to C+: Redeemable in some cases, but heavily Flawed
D- to D+: Nothing but Flaws
F: A Failure of a Film
9-10: Nearly Perfect to Perfect
8-9: Very Good
7-8: Good
6-7: Okay
5-6: Average/Mediocre
4-5: Apparently Flawed
3-4: Heavily Flawed
2-3: A complete and utter mess
0-2: A Failure of a Film
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