Ready Player One

The best films have the power to take you out of the real world for a couple of hours at a time. Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One is a film about that very feeling.

This rose-tinted nostalgia-fest has received a surprisingly divisive reaction but this is startling as it’s a true ‘movie-fan’s’ movie. Its bombardment of references, links and Easter Eggs ready to tickle every fan’s pop culture bones.

Based on Ernest Cline’s YA novel; Ready Player One is set in 2045, where overpopulation and a succession of dividing events have caused the world to be a fractured place, with the majority of its inhabitants plugging themselves into the OASIS; an online VR world where anything is possible (seems fairly prescient, eh?!) This Black Mirror-esque reality was created by Steve Jobs-alike James Halliday who hid three ‘keys’ in the virtual world. The first person to collect all three keys will inherit the entire shebang; Willy Wonka style.

Wade Watts (“named like a superhero’s alter ego”) is our entry into this incredibly realised creation as he attempts to ‘complete’ the game. What follows is an eye-searing, truly post-modern blockbuster. It feels like the culmination of cinema up to this point has been realised and that this will sit as a historical landmark in the history of film.

Its phantasmagoria of fan-baiting moments aren’t just done for winks and nudges; they play an intrinsic part in the plot and reflect the player’s love, like the viewer, of pop culture. It’s the ultimate cinema experience especially if you watch it on the biggest screen possible (IMAX this for the full effect.)

The action set pieces are for the ages; an introductory car chase featuring a DeLorean, Jurassic Park’s T-Rex and King Kong is one of the best car chases in history and tackles the endorphin senses in a way little else has in the last few years. Coupled with the oh-so-on-point 80’s soundtrack it slaps a stupidly wide smile on your face.

It just makes everything else seem so antiquated in comparison. Sure, the ending is fairly convenient and ties in with Spielberg’s chosen ‘moral message’ and, yes, the ‘villain’ of the piece and his sinister corporation fits with the story but is hardly a baddie for the ages and the ‘real world’ segments, whilst brilliantly juxtaposed plot-wise aren’t nearly as thrilling as their virtual counterparts. It also doesn’t do enough with its supporting characters as one would hope across a post-two hour running time.

None of this matters though when Wade’s chosen avatar; Parzival, throws a ‘Zemeckis Cube’ (hint hint, nudge nudge) and everything rewinds a minute whilst the Back To The Future theme stirs in the background. It doesn’t matter when the characters enter a picture-perfect recreation of The Shining’s Overlook Hotel. It doesn’t matter when Gandalf, Lara Croft and Harley Quinn can be spotted frequenting a futuristic night club or King Kong destroys the bike from Akira with a bellow that shakes your very soul.

Ready Player One is not a film up for debate. It’s a film from a fan, for fans. Sit back and enjoy this adrenalin shot of pure movie magic.

5 stars *****