Extra Life, by Bob Connally

30 Mar

In 2011, author Ernest Cline’s highly entertaining science fiction adventure novel, Ready Player One became a modern day pop culture sensation. The book’s popularity was due in large part to Cline’s affinity for the pop culture of the 1980s. The wave of movies and TV shows either set in or heavily influenced by the ‘80s had barely gotten going yet but seven years later the film adaptation of Cline’s novel joins what has become, for better or worse, a tidal wave. 

While many had already made up their minds to hate this movie’s very existence, others like myself were excited to see what Steven Spielberg could bring to the material with a screenplay written by Cline himself along with Zak Penn. The result is a film that largely delivers on its primary aim, pure entertainment. While certainly being chock full of references, the film uses most of them in clever ways just as Cline’s novel did.

In the year 2045, people have little interest in the depressing and neglected real world, preferring instead to spend as much time as possible in the Oasis. It’s a virtual world created by the beloved visionary James Halliday (Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies) and his onetime friend and partner, Ogden Morrow (Simon Pegg). It’s been five years since Halliday’s untimely death and with Morrow no longer a part of the creation he’d helped bring into existence, the entire Oasis loving world has immersed itself into the contest that Halliday announced in his video will.

There are three keys that can only be found by solving the clues Halliday left behind. The first person to obtain all three keys can unlock the Easter egg that gives him or her total ownership and control of the Oasis. After five years, players are still trying to get the first key.

Ready Player One’s central protagonist is 18-year old Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan, Mud). Like so many others, Wade has become obsessed with the pop culture of the ‘80s because that was Halliday’s obsession. The clues to the keys and ultimately the Easter egg must be hidden somewhere in the movies, TV, video games, and songs of that time. This is how Cline found a way in his future set novel to incorporate his love of the decade of his youth. How you feel about that mechanism will go a long way towards determining how much enjoyment you’ll get from either the book or the film.

Wade really isn’t the most interesting protagonist as his defining characteristic is his encyclopedic knowledge of Halliday’s life and favorite pieces of entertainment. It’s exactly that though that makes him such a likely candidate to win the contest. The depth of his knowledge and love for those films, games, and songs seems to exceed anyone else’s. 

Some of the supporting characters are a little more interesting but neither the book nor the film get terribly deep when it comes to character development. If anything, Halliday seems to be shaded in more in the movie as we see him in various flashbacks that Wade watches repeatedly in the deceased man’s archives. While Wade gets a simple character arc, it’s Halliday who is the most developed character in the film, despite his being dead. Rylance gives a seriously terrific performance as a man who clearly has a big heart but doesn’t know how to express it or truly connect with anyone other than Morrow. As Morrow, Simon Pegg is unfortunately underutilized.

As so much of Ready Player One is set in the Oasis, many of the other performances end up being largely voice work. Even Sheridan is on screen less than his character’s avatar, Parzival. Much like the characters they play, the performances are fine if nothing special. However, Olivia Cooke (Thoroughbreds) does give some depth to Art3mis, a character whose reason for trying to win the contest- or more to the point, ensure that the IOI Corporation doesn’t win it- is pure and emotional.

As Nolan Sorrento, the head of IOI, Ben Mendelsohn (Rogue One) plays a villain who tries to present himself to the world as a pop culture loving nerd, as if to say to the serious Gunters (egg hunters) that he’s just like them and that if IOI has control of the Oasis it would be the best thing for those who love it. Not able to fool anyone, Sorrento is not averse to killing to ensure his company wins the game, employing a massive dedicated work force to figure out all the angles.

Mendelsohn has become one of my favorite actors in recent years but he’s a bit wasted in this one dimensional villain role, just as he was in Rogue One. He more than has the capacity to play a character with more depth, even in a pure popcorn movie like this one. He could easily do something along the lines of what Paul Freeman did as Belloq in Raiders or the Lost Ark but there’s not that much to Sorrento. A more interesting and dynamic villain could have gone a long way here. (If you’ve only seen Mendelsohn in his blockbuster appearances watch him in Killing Them Softly to see what he’s really capable of.)

Running 140 minutes (typical for Spielberg over about the past 25 years), Ready Player One is certainly an enjoyable movie that in many ways harkens back to an earlier time in the filmmaker’s career. As fun as it often is though, I can’t see it having the lasting cultural legacy of Raiders, Jaws, or E.T., or that of the novel upon which it’s based.

The climactic battle for the Oasis is drawn out for far too long but Spielberg at least keeps things moving through it so it doesn’t become tedious. His most impressive touch as a director here comes from his ability to make the Oasis set scenes look more appealing than they probably otherwise would. While the avatars don’t have the uncanny valley effect, they’re not inherently pleasant to look at either. A little bit of handheld camera work in simple dialogue scenes goes a long way though at making the avatars feel more alive. It’s a nice subtle touch.

Ready Player One is a flawed but fun adventure that succeeds at its main objective. Yes, it could be a little something more. As it is, anyone not predisposed to hate it should have a good time.

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