Movie Review: Ready Player One

Movie Review: Ready Player One                                                                                                 10-3-23

In the year 2045, mankind has decided to ignore the world’s problems and escape into OASIS, an immersive MMO VR website where anyone can be anything and go anywhere. When OASIS creator James Halliday died at the age of 67, he gave the fortune of his company (500 billion dollars!!!) to whoever can find the Easter Egg he hid in the OASIS. Now, it’s up to 18-year-old boy Wade Watts (OASIS username Parzival) to find the three keys to the Egg before the power-hungry Nolan Sorrento and his company IOI (Innovative Online Industries) gets to them first.

Similar to The Super Mario Bros Movie later this year, Ready Player One is a movie that critics shouldn’t be so harsh on with a story that parallels real life so much, outstanding production design in both the real world and the OASIS, characters that adults in their late teens and early twenties can relate to, good music from Alan Silverstri, and computer animation that showcases the movie’s 175-million-dollar budget.

Another thing to appreciate about Ready Player One is the message the movie has about being careful about who you meet online. In this movie, you can’t give out any information in the OASIS or even use your real name. For all you know, someone you may have a crush on may be a 300-pound man in Suburban Detroit in his mom’s basement. This is especially true to real life, as people who you find on websites like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram may not turn out who they say they are.

Wade meeting Artim3s in Aech's workshop.

Another thing to appreciate about Ready Player One is the sheer amount of licensed IPs (intellectual properties) that appear in the movie. If you look at the credits, you’ll see nearly 40 companies that had their creations featured in the movie, including Atari, Viacom, Microsoft, Sanrio, and even Disney! Makes you wonder how Halliday managed to afford all these characters without getting slapped with a lawsuit.

In this shot alone, there are properties from Disney, Nintendo, Namco, Frito Lay, and Taito.

In conclusion, if you want to watch something different that is also a lot of fun for older kids, then Ready Player One is the movie for you. For those parents reading this review, just wait until your kids are at least 12 or 13 to watch this movie.

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5