REVIEW: Ready Player OneBy Bri ManzanoApril 1, 2018The trailer had me skeptical when I first saw it. But, honestly, I don’t know why I doubted Spielberg. His track record has established him as easily one of the most masterful and iconic directors of all time, and I was a bit haughty in my hesitations about Ready Player One. Not entirely haughty, but a bit.

The film does get off to an inauspicious start for picky viewers (like myself) who would rather experience natural exposition than be dumped upon by lengthy and information-heavy narration in the film’s first several minutes. There seems to be way too much the audience needs to know before starting the fun. Normally, this would make sense, as the film seems at most times to cater to a wide range of ages, but Ready Player One is less family-friendly than you would expect (featuring a few instances of the f-bomb and one of overtly sexual touching between the protagonists). Of course, this is the director’s prerogative, but it seems dissonant with the spoon-feeding narration that we get at the start of the film.

However, despite those few pedantic concerns and a few pacing difficulties, Ready Player One is really a joy to watch.

Visually, the film is positively stunning. There’s a great variety of action sequences, allowing the film to pick up just when it’s approaching a slump. The effects are game-changing. The world is vast and tangible. It feels like this is what Valerian was trying to accomplish - except this time around, they succeeded.

Once again, I have to give immense credit to Olivia Cooke, whose personality shines through even as her computerized doppelganger. Her feminine presence is not overbearing, as the feminine presence in YA films can often be, but instead, she contributes a great deal to the overall outcome and is not afraid to be graceful and subtle. She is supplemented well by Tye Sheridan, whose wide-eyed wonder harkens back to Charlie’s first days in the chocolate factory; their relationship is a bit rushed, but they have chemistry, so the pacing is excusable. Ben Mendelsohn continues to remind me of a more imposing and more brooding Wallace Shawn (which works well for this film), and TJ Miller’s awkward comedy is kept well in check with the more dramatic scenes in the film.

All the more charming are the pop-culture references. It’s like an endearing scavenger hunt of tiny thrills.

Rating: 7.7
Favorite scene: the Iron Giant.
Least favorite scene: the Iron Giant.

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