191.
Ready Player One
9/10
A movie that I had been waiting for since I seen the first trailer a while before. It had been years since I had been looking forward to a Steven Spielberg as much as I was going to do with this movie. I didn't know if he would have another crowd-pleaser in him, but I had high hopes for this one. The trailer consisted of so many throwbacks from my youth that I couldn't help but be ready. The movie is based on a book by Ernest Cline with the same name. The movie seems to be a mixture of CGI and live action, which has worked well in the past but also has some bad attempts under the belt. With what's on offer here, I can only expect some sort of success.
The storyline revolves around a boy living with his Aunt in a poor part of town and the world has become desperate. The only way that they can escape real life is in the Oasis, a virtual reality world where anyone can be anyone and do what they want, to a limit. This comes into threat when the creator, James Halliday dies, 5 years earlier than our story is set and he creates a game within the Oasis, for its players to find keys, leading to the final Easter Egg. The one who finds this egg will gin the shares to the company, own the Oasis and all that comes with it. Tye Sheridan is playing Wade Watts, a boy named so because his father enjoyed the same kind of names as a superhero's alias. His avatar inside the Oasis is called Parzival and as he gives us a little tour, Wade carries on with some narrative, letting us know that the full on egg hunter, or Gunters, have been trying for years.
A company called IOI are also on the look, employing hundreds and exploiting people in debt, to make them play the games for IOI. They want control of Oasis to make it more commercial and more revenue for themselves. The first challenge was unlocked a year ago, a race, which features many famous vehicles and obstacles such as King Kong and the T-Rex from Jurassic Park. Which is extremely cool to watch and seeing the BIgfoot monster truck from a game years ago gave me goosebumps. Towards the end, Parzival looks certain to win, until he realises that no-one gets past Kong. At that moment, he sees a well-known player named Art3mis, played by Olivia Cooke, who he stops from making the final jump, saving her from the clutches of the massive gorilla, but not saving her bike.
Parzival's friend, in game, is named Aech, who invites the two back to his garage to fix the bike. Showing some of his builds in the meantime, such as some speeders from Star Wars and the Iron Giant. Aech is able to see that Wade likes this female. Due to her being of high stature in the game and a reel against IOI but also the fact that her character is an attractive alien. He fixes the bike and she leaves, just as Wade can hear his aunt calling, meaning he would have to log out too. He gets back home to the stacks, which are a bunch of caravans on top of each other, as far as the eye can see. His Aunt's partner attacks Wade because Wade stole the gloves to play from his Aunt. This leads to Rick, admitting that he had spent most of their savings inside the game and the Aunt threatening to kick Wade out if he touches her stuff again.
The main guy in charge at IOI is Nolan Sorrento, played by Ben Mendelsohn, who has recently seemed to be everywhere as a villain, including Rogue One. He is the one desperate to find the egg and get the fortune, along with the chances that come with the Oasis. Back inside the Oasis, Wade visits Halliday's Journals, which is like a library but contains Halliday's memories. He speaks to the robot host, the curator, who guides Wade through the memories, most of which Wade knows word for word. It is a launch party, where Halliday and his partner, who created the Oasis with him, are discussing the future and Morrow, the partner, wants to leave the company. Morrow is played by Simon Pegg and Wade listens intently as Halliday repeats that it would be 'going backwards', which Wade suddenly wakes up to, thinking it's a clue for the first challenge. He then returns to the race, decides to stay at the start and then reverse, opening up a new pathway, which goes underneath all of the obstacles and takes him to the finish line. He meets Anorak, who presents him with a copper key and Parzival finally makes the scoreboard, which Sorrento takes instant notice of. Sorrento enters the Oasis in his own avatar, the evil Superman and meets with a bounty hunter called I-R0k, who is a big badass, skull as a torso and then he speaks. Being played by T.J. Miller, it adds to the humour of this storyline. He presents Sorrento with the Orb of Osuvox, which he can use to lock down the Oasis and is also sent on a mission to find out who Parzival is.
With his winnings from the first challenge, Wade goes shopping in the Oasis, picking out a special suit to wear whilst gaming, which allows him to feel everything that goes on inside the game. He has also been elevated into a sort of celebrity within the Oasis. He helps Aech and Art3mis finish the race and they are followed by the members of their gang named Daito and Sho. The claim the top 5 places, being named 'The High Five'. The next clue revolves around a creator who hates his own creation and a leap not taken. Wade and Art3mis return to the Journals, whilst Wade is wearing a disguise to make him look like Clark Kent so that he isn't pestered. This memory shows Sorrento as a bumbling assistant to the two creators. Halliday and Morrow are talking about a date that Halliday had been on recently. It was with a lady named Kira, actual name Karen Underwood, the woman who later became Morrow's wife. Wade believes that this could be the reason that the partnership drifted apart. Wade also notices that no other memories have any mentions of Kira. He even makes a bet with the Curator that this is true, which he wins and the Curator gives him a quarter as winnings. Art3mis ends the day by asking Wade if he wants to go to a nightclub. Before he goes, he heads over to Aech's place to try on a couple of outfits. Aech warns him that it could be anyone playing as Art3mis, even a 40-year-old man. I can imagine it won't be, but that is a very true statement.
Meeting at the club called The Distracted, which Wade has become with this date, the two dance together and he instantly finds himself falling for this girl. She reveals that her avatar has a mark on her face, linking to a deformity in real-life. He suggests that they tell each other their real names, which isn't a good thing in the Oasis and I-R0k is there to overhear him. Moments later, Sorrento has been informed and sends in a SWAT team of Sixers to attack the two avatars. Wade uses a Rubix cube, which turns back time a minute and the two manage to escape. It doesn't end well as Art3mis turns on him, mainly because he got them into trouble as she is only focused on taking down IOI because they are the reason that her father is dead.
The storyline revolves around a boy living with his Aunt in a poor part of town and the world has become desperate. The only way that they can escape real life is in the Oasis, a virtual reality world where anyone can be anyone and do what they want, to a limit. This comes into threat when the creator, James Halliday dies, 5 years earlier than our story is set and he creates a game within the Oasis, for its players to find keys, leading to the final Easter Egg. The one who finds this egg will gin the shares to the company, own the Oasis and all that comes with it. Tye Sheridan is playing Wade Watts, a boy named so because his father enjoyed the same kind of names as a superhero's alias. His avatar inside the Oasis is called Parzival and as he gives us a little tour, Wade carries on with some narrative, letting us know that the full on egg hunter, or Gunters, have been trying for years.
A company called IOI are also on the look, employing hundreds and exploiting people in debt, to make them play the games for IOI. They want control of Oasis to make it more commercial and more revenue for themselves. The first challenge was unlocked a year ago, a race, which features many famous vehicles and obstacles such as King Kong and the T-Rex from Jurassic Park. Which is extremely cool to watch and seeing the BIgfoot monster truck from a game years ago gave me goosebumps. Towards the end, Parzival looks certain to win, until he realises that no-one gets past Kong. At that moment, he sees a well-known player named Art3mis, played by Olivia Cooke, who he stops from making the final jump, saving her from the clutches of the massive gorilla, but not saving her bike.
Parzival's friend, in game, is named Aech, who invites the two back to his garage to fix the bike. Showing some of his builds in the meantime, such as some speeders from Star Wars and the Iron Giant. Aech is able to see that Wade likes this female. Due to her being of high stature in the game and a reel against IOI but also the fact that her character is an attractive alien. He fixes the bike and she leaves, just as Wade can hear his aunt calling, meaning he would have to log out too. He gets back home to the stacks, which are a bunch of caravans on top of each other, as far as the eye can see. His Aunt's partner attacks Wade because Wade stole the gloves to play from his Aunt. This leads to Rick, admitting that he had spent most of their savings inside the game and the Aunt threatening to kick Wade out if he touches her stuff again.
The main guy in charge at IOI is Nolan Sorrento, played by Ben Mendelsohn, who has recently seemed to be everywhere as a villain, including Rogue One. He is the one desperate to find the egg and get the fortune, along with the chances that come with the Oasis. Back inside the Oasis, Wade visits Halliday's Journals, which is like a library but contains Halliday's memories. He speaks to the robot host, the curator, who guides Wade through the memories, most of which Wade knows word for word. It is a launch party, where Halliday and his partner, who created the Oasis with him, are discussing the future and Morrow, the partner, wants to leave the company. Morrow is played by Simon Pegg and Wade listens intently as Halliday repeats that it would be 'going backwards', which Wade suddenly wakes up to, thinking it's a clue for the first challenge. He then returns to the race, decides to stay at the start and then reverse, opening up a new pathway, which goes underneath all of the obstacles and takes him to the finish line. He meets Anorak, who presents him with a copper key and Parzival finally makes the scoreboard, which Sorrento takes instant notice of. Sorrento enters the Oasis in his own avatar, the evil Superman and meets with a bounty hunter called I-R0k, who is a big badass, skull as a torso and then he speaks. Being played by T.J. Miller, it adds to the humour of this storyline. He presents Sorrento with the Orb of Osuvox, which he can use to lock down the Oasis and is also sent on a mission to find out who Parzival is.
With his winnings from the first challenge, Wade goes shopping in the Oasis, picking out a special suit to wear whilst gaming, which allows him to feel everything that goes on inside the game. He has also been elevated into a sort of celebrity within the Oasis. He helps Aech and Art3mis finish the race and they are followed by the members of their gang named Daito and Sho. The claim the top 5 places, being named 'The High Five'. The next clue revolves around a creator who hates his own creation and a leap not taken. Wade and Art3mis return to the Journals, whilst Wade is wearing a disguise to make him look like Clark Kent so that he isn't pestered. This memory shows Sorrento as a bumbling assistant to the two creators. Halliday and Morrow are talking about a date that Halliday had been on recently. It was with a lady named Kira, actual name Karen Underwood, the woman who later became Morrow's wife. Wade believes that this could be the reason that the partnership drifted apart. Wade also notices that no other memories have any mentions of Kira. He even makes a bet with the Curator that this is true, which he wins and the Curator gives him a quarter as winnings. Art3mis ends the day by asking Wade if he wants to go to a nightclub. Before he goes, he heads over to Aech's place to try on a couple of outfits. Aech warns him that it could be anyone playing as Art3mis, even a 40-year-old man. I can imagine it won't be, but that is a very true statement.
Meeting at the club called The Distracted, which Wade has become with this date, the two dance together and he instantly finds himself falling for this girl. She reveals that her avatar has a mark on her face, linking to a deformity in real-life. He suggests that they tell each other their real names, which isn't a good thing in the Oasis and I-R0k is there to overhear him. Moments later, Sorrento has been informed and sends in a SWAT team of Sixers to attack the two avatars. Wade uses a Rubix cube, which turns back time a minute and the two manage to escape. It doesn't end well as Art3mis turns on him, mainly because he got them into trouble as she is only focused on taking down IOI because they are the reason that her father is dead.
Sorrento projects a message into Wade's headset, to offer a meeting. Accepting, Wade is the projected into Sorrento's office, where he is offered 50 million dollars to join IOI and help them. Wade notices a password written on the arm of Sorrento's rig and after outright refusing, Sorrento reveals that he knows where Wade lives and is about to blow it up with drones. We have already seen that Wade doesn't play at home and he instantly disconnects to run home and warn his Aunt. Trying to call her, the boyfriend answers, who has stolen the new suit and tells him never to call again. The drones then blow the bombs that they have planted and the stacks begin to crumble. As he is walking through we see a man with a face tattoo eyeing him up. He runs back to his trailer to warns his friends but is captured by the tattooed guy.
He wakes up face-to-face with Samantha, the girl behind Art3mis. She doesn't exactly have a deformity that she was complaining about. It's a birthmark on he cheek. Jesus wept. Grow up girl. She's pretty attractive too. Nothing to worry about there. She and a few others have started a rebellion, not too far from the stacks but with the IOI building in sight. They have a chat and almost kiss, that's until she has a brainwave and realises that the leap not taken would have been referring to Halliday's regret from not kissing Kira on their date. They gather the rest of the Avatar gang and head to the date that was. They watching The Shining, which would link to the creator hating his own creation, with Stephen King not a massive fan of the movie. The Curator is present and sends them all into a simulation of the Overlook hotel from the movie. Since Aech has never seen the movie or read the book, he encounters the twin sisters and the elevator of blood. He is even the one who runs into the creepy woman in the bathtub, before having to outrun Jack with the axe. Elsewhere, Samantha is able to find Kira in the dancehall, dancing with the zombies and looking stressed. She makes her way to here, leaping from zombie to zombie, as there is no floor and they are all floating, she dances with her and wins the challenge, being presented with another key. The others follow suit and this is where Sorrento realises that Wade is actually still alive. The Sixers are pictured having an awful time at trying to get passed The Shining. There is so much to this movie and I'm loving it.
F'Nale, who is Sorrento's assistant, uses a drone to find the tattooed guy and then finding the hideout of the rebellion. They instantly storm and although Sam is taken, Wade makes it out, before being picked up by a gang in a van. A girl runs over to him, who turns out to be Aech! And after that chat he gave Wade about Art3mis. The rest of the gang are rounded up too, with Daito and Sho in the back. They all head to rescue Samantha and stop Sorrento once and for all.
The final challenge is on Planet Doom, in Castle Anorak and Sorrento has already used that orb from earlier to create a massive force field over the castle, preventing anyone else from trying the final quest. He also has Sam thrown into a loyalty centre to work back her father's debt, in which she will be planting explosives around the castle. She manages to escape her pod, track down Sorrento's rig so that the gang can hack it and make him think that they have taken over the IOI, by projecting a view of his office, into the Oasis. Sam then moves on to the war room, where gangs of people are playing as Sixers. The final challenge is based around Atari games, with no-one knowing which one to choose. Back outside the force field, Wade sends a message to the whole of the Oasis, telling them what IOI are doing and asking for their help to defeat them. Thousands arrive, throwing in all sorts of characters, whilst Aech has also woken the Iron Giant! It's really cool to see everyone and their fighting styles.
Sorrento has come down to hold them off and his character is riding the Mecha-Godzilla. They all join forces to take him down, allowing Wade to move on, into the castle. Wade realises that he must sacrifice Samantha because she has been spotted as a Sixer betraying inside the game. He shoots her point-blank so that she gets replaced in the real world. This means Sorrento doesn't catch up to her. Wade finds a Sixer playing Adventure, which holds the final key. This guy gets closer than anyone else, before failing and falling beneath a blanket of ice. Just as Wade is about to play, Sorrento is back for one last fight, he even pulls out a bomb, capable of killing all the Avatars, which he sets off, even killing himself and I-R0k. One thing he didn't expect though, was for Wade to survive. It turns out that the coin The Curator gave Wade earlier was actually an extra life token. He picks up the controller and begins to complete the game, knowing that it isn't meant to be completed in a conventional way, but instead to find the first even Easter egg, hidden inside the game. He retrieves the crystal key and a door appears to enter all three keys. Because he is still playing in the back of Aech's van, the IOI have tracked them down and begin to ram them off the road, making it hard for Wade to be on target with the locks. Everyone across the world is watching him attempt this, all in anticipation. Finally succeeding, he is greeted by Anorak, who offers Parzival a contract to take over the Oasis. Wade realises that this is another test, linking to when Halliday made Morrow sign over his share, which Halliday had always regretted. The chamber of gold they stand in soon disappears and they arrive at Halliday's bedroom. He presents Wade with the Golden Egg, once he finds it and also shows him a big red button which can shut down the Oasis if he chooses. He even nearly hits it by accident because of the car chase still carrying on. Aech sends the van to the stacks, where groups of people are ready to face Sorrento for his actions. They have all seen a video that Aech has uploaded, wit Sorrento confessing to all of his crimes. He and F'Nale are arrested and the team is then approached by Morrow, who reveals that he was The Curator all along. With a team of lawyers, he helps Wade gain control of the Oasis and shares out control with his friends.
Wade's final moments of the film reveal that they all control the Oasis with ease and have forced IOI to remove all loyalty centres. They have also cut two days out of the Oasis so that people can continue to live their real lives. The film finally ends, showing that Wade and Sam have moved in together, with a place that he can finally call home.
This film was a cut above for me. There was so much nostalgia, so much fun and I want this future, so a degree. I'm halfway through the book and so far, there is a little extra that wasn't in the movie but that is only natural. The storyline came across as pretty original for me and although there was an unneeded love interest, the rest was pretty clever. Being a kind of gamer myself, knowing all about Easter eggs and how clever the hidden ideas of this film were, this may have gone over some of the heads of the audience. Between everything being linked with old films, games and music, there was clearly something for everyone to an extent. Apparently, Spielberg took out quite a bit that was linked to him movies in the books, maybe because he felt it was a little too much if he was in charge of this movie. The cast worked well, each who had a different side to them whilst online. When it came to Ben Mendelsohn, he's easily playing the part of the villain in his recent movies and this was no change, I'm enjoying his roles. The CGI throughout this movie had a certain look to it, one that immersed its audiences and one that would have made certain references relevant a lot more than if you were to read a book. Compared to how it portrayed the real-life moments, which were dark and gritty, the online game was as colourful as anything else. Also, the music that comes along with it, mostly power ballads, add to every single emotions I felt. The movie was a blast from beginning to end, with a hidden meaning of not forgetting to go out and enjoy life rather than constantly being stuck with technology. The film was completely charming by the end and looked amazing throughout, with the final battle being one of great spectacle. I cannot wait to watch this movie again!
He wakes up face-to-face with Samantha, the girl behind Art3mis. She doesn't exactly have a deformity that she was complaining about. It's a birthmark on he cheek. Jesus wept. Grow up girl. She's pretty attractive too. Nothing to worry about there. She and a few others have started a rebellion, not too far from the stacks but with the IOI building in sight. They have a chat and almost kiss, that's until she has a brainwave and realises that the leap not taken would have been referring to Halliday's regret from not kissing Kira on their date. They gather the rest of the Avatar gang and head to the date that was. They watching The Shining, which would link to the creator hating his own creation, with Stephen King not a massive fan of the movie. The Curator is present and sends them all into a simulation of the Overlook hotel from the movie. Since Aech has never seen the movie or read the book, he encounters the twin sisters and the elevator of blood. He is even the one who runs into the creepy woman in the bathtub, before having to outrun Jack with the axe. Elsewhere, Samantha is able to find Kira in the dancehall, dancing with the zombies and looking stressed. She makes her way to here, leaping from zombie to zombie, as there is no floor and they are all floating, she dances with her and wins the challenge, being presented with another key. The others follow suit and this is where Sorrento realises that Wade is actually still alive. The Sixers are pictured having an awful time at trying to get passed The Shining. There is so much to this movie and I'm loving it.
F'Nale, who is Sorrento's assistant, uses a drone to find the tattooed guy and then finding the hideout of the rebellion. They instantly storm and although Sam is taken, Wade makes it out, before being picked up by a gang in a van. A girl runs over to him, who turns out to be Aech! And after that chat he gave Wade about Art3mis. The rest of the gang are rounded up too, with Daito and Sho in the back. They all head to rescue Samantha and stop Sorrento once and for all.
The final challenge is on Planet Doom, in Castle Anorak and Sorrento has already used that orb from earlier to create a massive force field over the castle, preventing anyone else from trying the final quest. He also has Sam thrown into a loyalty centre to work back her father's debt, in which she will be planting explosives around the castle. She manages to escape her pod, track down Sorrento's rig so that the gang can hack it and make him think that they have taken over the IOI, by projecting a view of his office, into the Oasis. Sam then moves on to the war room, where gangs of people are playing as Sixers. The final challenge is based around Atari games, with no-one knowing which one to choose. Back outside the force field, Wade sends a message to the whole of the Oasis, telling them what IOI are doing and asking for their help to defeat them. Thousands arrive, throwing in all sorts of characters, whilst Aech has also woken the Iron Giant! It's really cool to see everyone and their fighting styles.
Sorrento has come down to hold them off and his character is riding the Mecha-Godzilla. They all join forces to take him down, allowing Wade to move on, into the castle. Wade realises that he must sacrifice Samantha because she has been spotted as a Sixer betraying inside the game. He shoots her point-blank so that she gets replaced in the real world. This means Sorrento doesn't catch up to her. Wade finds a Sixer playing Adventure, which holds the final key. This guy gets closer than anyone else, before failing and falling beneath a blanket of ice. Just as Wade is about to play, Sorrento is back for one last fight, he even pulls out a bomb, capable of killing all the Avatars, which he sets off, even killing himself and I-R0k. One thing he didn't expect though, was for Wade to survive. It turns out that the coin The Curator gave Wade earlier was actually an extra life token. He picks up the controller and begins to complete the game, knowing that it isn't meant to be completed in a conventional way, but instead to find the first even Easter egg, hidden inside the game. He retrieves the crystal key and a door appears to enter all three keys. Because he is still playing in the back of Aech's van, the IOI have tracked them down and begin to ram them off the road, making it hard for Wade to be on target with the locks. Everyone across the world is watching him attempt this, all in anticipation. Finally succeeding, he is greeted by Anorak, who offers Parzival a contract to take over the Oasis. Wade realises that this is another test, linking to when Halliday made Morrow sign over his share, which Halliday had always regretted. The chamber of gold they stand in soon disappears and they arrive at Halliday's bedroom. He presents Wade with the Golden Egg, once he finds it and also shows him a big red button which can shut down the Oasis if he chooses. He even nearly hits it by accident because of the car chase still carrying on. Aech sends the van to the stacks, where groups of people are ready to face Sorrento for his actions. They have all seen a video that Aech has uploaded, wit Sorrento confessing to all of his crimes. He and F'Nale are arrested and the team is then approached by Morrow, who reveals that he was The Curator all along. With a team of lawyers, he helps Wade gain control of the Oasis and shares out control with his friends.
Wade's final moments of the film reveal that they all control the Oasis with ease and have forced IOI to remove all loyalty centres. They have also cut two days out of the Oasis so that people can continue to live their real lives. The film finally ends, showing that Wade and Sam have moved in together, with a place that he can finally call home.
This film was a cut above for me. There was so much nostalgia, so much fun and I want this future, so a degree. I'm halfway through the book and so far, there is a little extra that wasn't in the movie but that is only natural. The storyline came across as pretty original for me and although there was an unneeded love interest, the rest was pretty clever. Being a kind of gamer myself, knowing all about Easter eggs and how clever the hidden ideas of this film were, this may have gone over some of the heads of the audience. Between everything being linked with old films, games and music, there was clearly something for everyone to an extent. Apparently, Spielberg took out quite a bit that was linked to him movies in the books, maybe because he felt it was a little too much if he was in charge of this movie. The cast worked well, each who had a different side to them whilst online. When it came to Ben Mendelsohn, he's easily playing the part of the villain in his recent movies and this was no change, I'm enjoying his roles. The CGI throughout this movie had a certain look to it, one that immersed its audiences and one that would have made certain references relevant a lot more than if you were to read a book. Compared to how it portrayed the real-life moments, which were dark and gritty, the online game was as colourful as anything else. Also, the music that comes along with it, mostly power ballads, add to every single emotions I felt. The movie was a blast from beginning to end, with a hidden meaning of not forgetting to go out and enjoy life rather than constantly being stuck with technology. The film was completely charming by the end and looked amazing throughout, with the final battle being one of great spectacle. I cannot wait to watch this movie again!
No comments:
Post a Comment