“Ready Player One” is the latest blockbuster from Steven Spielberg.
There were a lot of mixed feelings going into this film. Many people were immediately excited, but there was reason to be skeptical. The trailers were not spectacular and the posters were subpar, but the source material is well loved and, come on, it is Steven Spielberg.
On the surface, I think it is a beautiful movie, and you will leave the theater having had an amazing time, but I think the movie struggles on some conceptual levels.
Let us start with the positives. This movie really is an absolute blast.
There are many engaging set pieces. The car race to open the movie, the hotel scene and the final battle are all incredible to watch.
Spielberg delivers these incredible action set pieces which are a blast to watch. The Kubrick sequence was a delight to watch and will probably end up being one of my favorite sequences of the year. Moments like these are some of the reasons why I love going to the theaters.
The characters are very engaging. Wade Watts and Artemis, played by Tye Sheridan and Olivia Cooke respectively, have a great chemistry throughout, and their friends are fun to watch as well.
The stand-out is Mark Rylance as the inventor of the Oasis, Halliday. There is such subtlety and nuance in his performance and he ended up one of my favorite parts of the movie.
The CGI is also stunning. It is not trying to imitate reality, it is a video game and has a certain style to it, meaning the CGI does not have to be perfect. In a way, the setting of the movie actually hides any mistakes in the CGI. It is absolutely beautiful to look at.
This leads into what I think this movie gets the most right, The Oasis.
This is the virtual reality game the whole world is obsessed with. Spielberg has to sell us on the fact everyone wants to participate in this game, and he does so without fault. It is incredibly attractive, and I found times throughout when I wished I could go play inside The Oasis for a day.
However, I walked away from this movie not fully satisfied.
I was certainly entertained, but I left with the questioning who the movie was for. Is it for the older generation who’s going to get the smorgasbord of references scattered about the movie? If so, why does the message of “get off your screens more and be in the real world” seem so child-like?
If it is made specifically with kids in mind, why are all the references about things they will not understand? I can almost guarantee you, no one under the age of 16 is going to understand the significance of “The Shinning” sequence. Even some of my friends will not understand it.  
I hear your outcry, “well why can it not be for both generations?” And you are right, it can and should be, but if this is the case, why does it feel like there are almost two separate movies?
Take a film like “The Incredibles” for example. It is an unbelievably entertaining film for kids and adults, and deals with issues within the family dynamic that kids may not pick up on.
Look at some of Spielberg’s earlier films like “Jurassic Park.” Entertaining? Absolutely. Deals subtly with issues of parenthood? Yeah, it does.
It mostly feels like a film made for an older generation trying to appeal to the younger, instead of the other way around. There is no subtlety in “Ready Player One,” there is no real mixing of these two elements.
Add on to the top of this, all I could think through the end of the movie is, “This is just a reskinning of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” and what you get is a not fully satisfied customer.  
If you go see “Ready Player One,” you are going to have a really good time, I can promise you that much. However, try to look past the spectacle of it all. Look past the plethora of characters, the crazy worlds and the epic set pieces. Do not let all the Easter eggs distract you from what is really going on behind the scenes. Engage in the reality in what the movie is trying to get at, because after all, “reality is real.”