Leave Reality at Home: Spielberg's Ready Player One Mesmerizes Audiences

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Ready Player One

Is there a proper escape from reality? Wouldn't it be wonderful to live a life of dreams rather than face the consequences of life's choices? If only the technology existed to find a way to gratify the desires of the flesh, or to discover enjoyment in safely pursuing a hobby, alter-ego, or living a lifestyle exceeding our own personal potential.

The creation of a true virtual reality, where anyone could do or be anything limited only by the imagination, seems like a syfy movie or television series. But wouldn't the existence of this technology be a great advancement, for all mankind? Science focusing on the betterment of our human existence controlled by corporate greed. Can you only imagine!

Escape from Reality: Enter the Oasis. 

Set in the near distance future, READY PLAYER ONE captivates our imagination by presenting a world where everyone's lives are driven to a virtual reality world. And how better to present this than through the eyes of a teenage boy, Parzival (TYE SHERIDAN), addicted to reaching towards the endless heights of his potential to have fun--fun being defined as true-to-life gaming, friends, girls, first love, music, laughter, dancing, and a quest for the ultimate treasure. He agrees to risk his life to save the world from greed, corruption, and the villainous appetites of power hungry tyrants while staying true to himself and the desires of the Oasis creator, obviously the world's richest man. It's video and pop-culture junkie vs. phenomenal cosmic power driven slave master n this wondrous movie!

Just as the beloved Peter Jackson enamored us by recreating the lore of Middle Earth, Steven Spielberg has boldly captured the true essence of the book READY PLAYER ONE by Ernest Cline. Fans of the book, children of the 80's, pop-culture geeks, and anyone with an imagination will absolutely love this movie. All the nostalgia of one's childhood is brought back to life. The creation of the Oasis is incredibly perfect. Everything was mesmerizing, from the computer interface, character creation, worlds created in a gentle, graphical style.There is no disappointment, either, when the super effects are needed in the great race for the key or to the ending MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) action sequences. You really feel like you are there, and that this is how a VR should be: the creation of a global scale holodeck.

My sixteen year old and I give this movie 5/5 for providing pure childlike enjoyment, and for being true to the book. The audience participation reminded me of watching STAR WARS for the first time, or E.T. There was laughing, cheering, and everyone was having a great time. The general buzz during the credits was phenomenally positive. This is the funnest movie to see this year. Leave reality at home.

Grade: 
5.0 / 5.0