Ready Player One (SPOILERS)

Welcome to the Oasis...

When asked the question of who is the most well-known movie director of all time, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if people were to say Steven Spielberg. The man has quite the record in Hollywood, and it's hard to imagine the industry without him. This year, he produced a movie that showed his passion for the industry and his attempt at a love letter to the ones who feel the same. In this review, I will go over what Ready Player One hits the mark on, and what it doesn't:

UPS

1. The movie is incredibly well-paced. Not a minute seems wasted and the story takes off and never stops going. While that hinders a few elements (which I'll get to later,) it makes the movie an incredibly fun ride that never spins its wheels. 
2. The Oasis is INCREDIBLE! It's such a vast and open world stacked to the brim with pop culture references that will ooze out every bit of nostalgic joy from people who grew up with these films and icons. Speaking of those references, the standouts have to be Chucky, the Iron Giant, and that crazy scene featuring The Shining.
3. The message the movie conveys is truly excellent, touching, and most of all important. Life can be challenging, and sometimes we just want to escape to a world where everything goes right and you can live the time of your life. While that's great and all, taking a step into reality allows one to see the true beauty life offers amid the hardships, and from there one becomes truly content with what they earn. It's uplifting, relatable, and something everyone can appreciate. 

DOWNS

1. Sorrento needed more fleshing out. Ben Mendelsohn does a great job portraying him, but the character never evolves from being a standard evil businessman and never gets more depth beyond that. I never really got a good sense of what his exact motivations were for taking over the Oasis, and I feel he could have benefited from scenes like the one where he reveals to Wade that he put a hit on his aunt. He's not bad, but I wanted a little more.
2. As much as I enjoy it, I feel the Oasis itself could have used more fleshing out as well. I feel Spielberg and the producers merely scratched the surface of the potential that could have come from expanding and building this world, and I must say it kinda disappoints me that they didn't do more with it. 

OVERALL

Ready Player One is a fun little flick. Definitely not Spielberg's best (I honestly feel it may be one of his weaker ones,) but an enjoyable experience nonetheless. 

And that's it for this blog, guys. More will be on the way :)