Ready, steady, go

The Hunt is On. (Unmarked Spoilers)

In a post-apocalyptic world, a virtual reality videogame that has replaced the internet itself called the OASIS is people’s only escape. Its creator James Halliday (Mark Rylance), has died and left his vast fortune and control of the OASIS itself to anyone who could find the Easter Egg he has hidden inside the game. To do so, you must first find three keys that open three gates. Wade Watts/Parzival (Tye Sheridan) is just one of several “gunters” embarking on this Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-type quest to find the egg, alongside his best friend Aech (Lena Waithe) and crush Art3mis (Olivia Cooke). Also after the egg is Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), who works for a company named IOI, who plans to turn the OASIS into a monetized hellscape.

Like its source material, Ready Player One is a huge ode to pop culture. especially anything from the ’80s. Appropriately, it was directed by Stephen Spielberg, who had a hand in shaping that landscape for the past 43 years. Though humble enough not to include any references to his own work, I want to say that the special effects people snuck in a couple of references behind his back anyway.

I’m not going to lie. I love this movie. When my mom first got it for a three-day rental period, I ended up watching it about four or five times. My favorite part of the whole movie is the second challenge, which is one big homage to The Shining. Everything about the sequence is so fantastic. And so sweet to see Spielberg take the time to pay tribute to his dear friend, Stanley Kubrick. A friendship I will never understand. Unfortunately, problems emerge when you look at the film on a deeper level.

The final message that Wonka Jobs imparts on Wade is not to let nostalgic escapism stop you from going out and living your life. In a film where the main draw is nostalgic escapism. Hell, it’s only because of that Wade ends up with his friends, his pretty girlfriend, and more money than God. The film nor the original novel doesn’t really convey the downside of the OASIS that well. If you want that, you should read Lacero by Andy Weir, a fanfiction short story that original author Ernest Cline, who co-wrote the script for the movie, liked so much, he declared it canon.

Another moral in the film is that you should play games for fun, not to win. In a movie about everyone in a literal competition, trying to claim the grand prize. Plus, if you die in the OASIS, you could lose all of your savings in the game and real life. As Wade puts it, “losing your s**t means losing your s**t.” That’s only a problem because the OASIS has become so intertwined with people’s lives, supporting the anti-escapism morale. But again, that message is badly flawed.

This movie changes numerous things from the book, most of which I chalk up to simple pragmatism. Though I suspect some of the “heavier” subjects’ omission was done to help facilitate the book into a blockbuster movie. For instance, before she died, Wade’s mom worked multiple jobs to make ends meet, one of which was as an escort. Yeah, all the references to sex work are pushed back to those adult jokes they throw into a family movie to give the parents something to laugh at. Then there’s the entire character of Aech.

A plot twist late in the story is that Aech is a black woman, despite being led to believe otherwise. In the book, Aech avatar is a white man, which she states explicitly states was so she could have all the opportunities she would otherwise be denied due to her race and gender. Aech is also a lesbian like Waithe, though you might not notice that because the scene where Aech tries to kiss the Room 237 woman occurs before we find out that she’s female. Then when we do find out, so much has happened that the viewer is liable to forget. In the book, we also find out that Aech’s mother disowned her and kicked her out when Aech came out to her—showing the sad reality that the oppressed can also be oppressors. I realized this while reading the book, but everything about Aech makes me believe that she would have made for a much better main character than Wade.

The characters’ personalities remain largely unchained, with three notable exceptions. The biggest of which is I-r0k (T.J. Miller), who in the film is practically a different character than the one found in the novel. In the movie, he poses an actual threat to the main characters, while he’s just a poser in the book. 

Sorrento is different in a lot of ways. For one, he displays an incompetence not seen in prior versions by leaving his password out where Wade can see it. Two, in Lacero, we find out that his motives are much nobler than they initially seemed. (spoiler) There it’s revealed that he plans on shutting the OASIS down because he believes it distracts people from fixing the real world. A claim raised in the original book, only here with a much better argument. And that he had a sister who died of a drug overdose because she was so consumed with finding Halliday’s egg. (/spoiler) The film goes with the original novel’s implications that Sorrento’s just a corporate suit only motivated by profit. However, the film includes a moment at the end where Sorrento is in the position to kill Wade, only to discover that he already has the egg. You might expect him to kill Wade out of spite, but no. Instead, he gracefully accepts defeat.

Then there’s Wade’s Aunt Alice (Susan Lynch), who only took him in for the benefits and then regularly pawns anything he owns that’s valuable for drug money. While still not a great parental figure, her less savory traits have been toned down in the film, and it’s indicated that she does care for Wade. The reason for the change is so she can take Mrs. Gilmore’s place as the person close to Wade who dies when IOI’s attempts to assassinate Wade. Giving the latter something to angst about for a hot second and then forget. 

Reading over what I’ve written so far, it really sounds like I hate this movie. Again, that couldn’t be farther from the truth, even if I am aware of its shortcomings. It’s an entertaining movie with a great cast and just the type of thing a pop culture junkie like myself eats up. If you’re looking for that and/or love the ’80s, then I’d highly recommend watching Ready Player One.