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Ready Player One (2018)
Ready Player One (2018)
Some aspects of this film intrigued me prior to seeing it, while other things about the movie worried me.
It interested me that a lot of characters and parts from famous films would be scattered throughout Ready Player One. However, I was concerned that every aspect of the movie would be overdone.
Why would I worry that a big budget film might be overcooked and therefore tasteless?
Hollywood has become obsessed with gathering together big budget group movies. It started with superhero movies and those superhero movies had to keep getting bigger and fuller. It is no longer just Batman or Superman, or even just Spiderman anymore. Batman vs. Superman also was not even good enough (of course, we knew it wouldn’t be). It is now The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Justice League, Suicide Squad, and X-Men, to name a few. Hollywood will take a concept that worked once and bleed it dry for everything that it is worth. It will be purged of all entertainment value. All that will be left behind is an overdone, and overblown metastasized mess that should be cut off because it is destroying the host that is the superhero genre.
What does this have to do with Ready Player One?
Because Hollywood has to keep trying to outdo itself, it keeps adding too many ingredients, and we no longer recognize what we are being fed. The trailer for Ready Player One had me worried that the movie would just be too much.
Ready Player One is about a future where a virtual reality videogame world called “The Oasis” is better than the real world. The creator of “The Oasis” has hidden secrets inside of his game. The world has become obsessed with finding those secrets and taking control of “The Oasis” and the trillions of dollars that it is worth.
The movie was directed by Steven Spielberg and the noteworthy cast includes Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Mark Rylance, Simon Pegg, Lena Waithe, Ralph Ineson, Susan Lynch, Clare Higgins, and Laurence Spellman.
I got to enjoy this film in 3D and I believe that greatly improved my movie watching experience. The special effects are firing on all cylinders in this one.
To say that I was pleasantly surprised by this movie would be an understatement. Were things overdone at times? Yes. But, let’s say they were tastefully overdone.
If you grew up playing videogames, then you will likely enjoy this movie more than someone who did not play video games, as a child. In other words, if you are in your fifties or older, you might not get much out of this movie.
Some of the characters and places that were recreated from other films in this movie were nothing short of incredible.
Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, and Ben Mendelsohn all did a great job in this movie.
I enjoyed how Spielberg walked the line of videogame and reality in Ready Player One. The videogame world created inside of the film feels just like the real world inside of the movie. In a lot of ways, Ready Player One is like nothing we have ever seen on screen. However, you can bet that the concept in this film will return again soon to a theater near you.
Overall, Ready Player One was peppered with nostalgia. Characters and icons from our childhoods were brought back to life with a vengeance. It was an exciting and epic Steven Spielberg story of good vs. evil in a fight to save the fictional world.
I rate this movie a 9 on a scale of 1-10.
If you liked this film then you might also enjoy:
Back to the Future (1985)
The Shining (1980)
Mud (2012)
Mud (2012)
There has been some Oscar buzz around the grapevine involving Matthew McConaughey‘s performance in Mud. I think that he did a superb job in his role, but I don’t think that the role itself is Oscar worthy. They might just nominate him to give him a little bit of well-deserved recognition, but he won’t win.
McConaughey has always been a very likable actor. He carries himself well and always brings a lot of energy to his characters. He is usually in excellent shape and the ladies love him. I think that is why he has made so many “chick flicks.” Because of his many romantic movies, I think that a lot of people, including the Academy don’t take him seriously as an actor. I believe that is why he gets overlooked when it comes time to give out awards. It’s a shame because the guy certainly is capable of an Oscar worthy performance, just look at The Lincoln Lawyer (2011), Two for the Money (2005), and Frailty (2001), to name a few.
In Mud, Matthew McConaughey plays a man named Mud. He is an outlaw living like a bum on an island in Arkansas. Two teenage boys (Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland) get more than they bargained for when they meet Mud after they find a boat high up in the trees on the same island.
The film was written and directed by Jeff Nichols.
The rest of the noteworthy cast includes Reese Witherspoon, Sarah Paulson, Ray McKinnon, Sam Shepard, Michael Shannon, Paul Sparks, and Joe Don Baker.
Mud was not exactly what I expected. I guess I didn’t know quite what to expect. The film was unique. The story was original which these days is a little rare. It was a nice change of pace to see a one-of-a-kind movie instead of a sequel or a remake of another movie.
Being basically unknown actors, I thought that Sheridan and Lofland both did an exceptional job of carrying their part of the movie.
Shepard and Shannon were both fun additions to the film.
I’m not a huge fan of Witherspoon, but I felt that she did an okay job in the film. However, I think that her character needed more screen time. That isn’t her fault. The movie could have been improved upon if her part of the story was better told. It just felt like her part was lacking something. I left the theatre thinking that the movie was really good, but something was missing. Her character could have provided that something.
The film did a fine job of developing most of its characters and building suspense. It was intriguing. It kept you wanting to know what was going to happen next and was not very predictable.
Unfortunately the movie is in limited release. It is a little bit surprising to me that the film is not in wide release. It is the first movie that I have seen in a long time that I could not sit in the part of the theatre that I wanted. I had my choice between the second or first rows. That is how packed the theatre was.
Mud is worth checking out if you are sick of the same old sequels or remakes that Hollywood keeps regurgitating for your enjoyment week after week. It’s a nice change of pace to be able to watch a movie that allows the actors to act and counts on their ability and the storyline alone to be entertaining and successful.
I rate this movie a 8 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Rent.
Note: After watching this movie a second time, I had to raise my initial rating from a 7.5 to an 8. The film is better than I originally gave it credit for.
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