The first things that came to mind as I was watching Ready Player One was my experience watching 50 Shades of Grey.
I can tell you’re giving the screen a weird look. Let me explain.
Both films are based on very poor novels (sorry, not a fan of the Ready Player One book), and they were helmed by a filmmaker who brought their vision to the table, and that vision extends to the point where there were heavy changes and recontextualizing of plot/character/thematic beats. Both of them also had their original authors heavily involved, though it seems the director/author relationship was a little less tense with Ready Player One than it was with 50 Shades of Grey (you can look it up, apparently it got pretty ugly). Either way, both are also (and more importantly) very clear attempts to elevate the source material into something more palatable, smoothing out some of the rougher edges, toxicity, and ugly underbelly of their own distinct fantasies. And at the end of the day, both films only half-succeed despite their efforts.
However, one thing 50 Shades of Grey didn’t have was Steven Spielberg behind the camera. With him involved, he is simultaneously a safe choice, but also a bold and interesting one considering how much his work is worshiped in the book. All of that is downplayed here, among many other things, but every now and then you’ll see him pull something out of his contributions to decades of pop culture iconography, and it creates this fascinating meta-commentary about our relationships to the things we create and our relationship to the things we experience through pop culture, which is a major theme with the character of James Halliday (Mark Rylance), who is the co-creator of the OASIS, a virtual reality world where you can do anything, be anyone, and go anywhere.
Also, Spielberg reminds us once again that he is the king when it comes to blockbuster filmmaking. Like with his last effort in that realm, The Adventures of Tintin, the largely computer generated environment allows him to use the camera in very inventive way, swinging in from far distances to swerving up close. Shots flow beautifully into each other, and his ability to craft an action sequence is still unmatched. There is one sequence in the second act, a challenge for our characters, Wade (Taylor Sheridan), Samantha (Olivia Cooke), Helen (Lena Waithe), who are trying to complete the second game set by Halliday in order to find a key, which along with the two others, will unlock an Easter egg that will grant the winner full control of the OASIS. I won’t give away what this second challenge is, but it is spectacular in its sheer audacity. I found myself with the biggest smile. The film finally came to life in a way that genuinely surprised me.
But then, it was eventually back to business as usual. Spielberg directs the hell out of the film, but just as he can’t help but create dazzling sequences, the story can’t help but spring up some of its more obnoxious impulses, despite the many changes. Oddly enough, the references never felt like a problem to me, it was largely background stuff, and it wasn’t just focused on the ‘80s. The problem with the writing is mostly in the details. The film crams a lot of plot in its already excessive 140 minute runtime, so it rushes past moments that needed more clarity, more connective tissue, more time to breathe. The characters are very bland, and while the actors certainly make the most out of what they’re given, there’s nothing particularly memorable about anyone here (female characters get it especially bad, there’s a whole birthmark thing with Samantha, it’s kind of hard to watch, and I’m shocked they kept it in). The plot beats are somehow over explained with exposition, but never in a way that provides the right context for it to make any real sense. The dialogue is filled with lines that feel stock and generic, and at times, downright cringe-worthy. There just isn’t anything under the surface, beyond the razzle-dazzle of its special effects. I felt nothing for the world the characters inhabit, I felt nothing for the supposed stakes of the contest, and once the big, final, climactic battle took place, it all became noise after a while.
I can say without hesitation that the film adaptation of Ready Player One is a major improvement over the source material. But just like with 50 Shades of Grey, if you smooth out all the more bizarre quirks and idiosyncrasies, no matter how ugly or problematic they may have been if they remained, eventually the final product will be so devoid of personality that there won’t be anything remotely interesting to say about it. There are slivers of something compelling and thoughtful here and there, but those moments are gone as quickly as they came. I don’t think crafting a celebration of pop culture and fandom is an inherently bad thing, but if you’re going to do it, at least try and say something with it. All Warner Brothers had to do was take a gander at what they were able to accomplish with The LEGO Movie to see what was possible with that style of story. But hey, kudos for trying, and that one sequence in the middle is still incredible and awesome, so much so that I almost feel like giving the movie a pass because of it. Almost.