There’s a lot of people who want Ready Player One to be an awful movie.
One reason for this is the strong dislike many hold for the book. A common criticism I hear is how often it can be what only can be described as “cringe worthy.” While I didn’t hate the novel, I certainly agree with those who had this problem with it. This cringeyness often for me stems from the constant stream of Ernest Cline’s nostalgia that spills out from nearly every page Cline never apologizes for his love of the pop culture touchstones of his youth (and I don’t know if he should have to, as my reaction to it has more to do with me than him probably), and this love is so personal and intimate, that it made me as a reader feel like a prudish invader, an unintentional voyeur walking by a window with the blinds up.
Spielberg certainly mixes that nostalgia up. Cline’s personal nostalgia is still present and important to the film, but this film manages to drill through Cline’s already-deep well of pop culture and tap into an even greater vein of nostalgia. Beyond video games and 80s movies, the film dips into a wide array of things, from Ninja Turtles to essential film buff cinema, to music to anime. But there are some rather large blind spots nonetheless: things that would likely be marketed to girls are reduced to stickers and patches, and hip hop and its cultural branches are noticeably absent. All the same, the wider net cast by Spielberg makes the film feel much more relatable and successfully reduces the amount of cringe.
This is definitely a welcome. However, another problem that people have with the novel is the way that it was on the bleeding edge of the growing movement to commodify nostalgia. The film (unsurprisingly) is an even larger vehicle for this nostalgexploitation. The fact that so much of big budget film making is focused on rummaging though and then repackaging the feelings from childhood is bothersome. If Cline’s nostalgia fetish can be criticized, at least its authenticity is beyond question. That is not the case with the film; I just can’t help but be cynical about the appearance of many of the pop culture touchstones in the film, and couldn’t help but wonder if they were there as part of an IP trade or agreement or promotion. I do know that Spielberg has a pretty wide set of interests, but I have a hard time picturing him as a Tracer main. And the number of Spielbergian tropes that appear in the last act of the film (so similar to some of his other films to the practical point of plagiarism) felt rather self-indulgent on his part.
Indeed, while the Spielbergization of Ready Player One corrects many of the worst of the book’s faults, it also wipes away many of its better elements. The film’s story is blue-skied and bubble-wrapped. While I’m glad this meant I didn’t have to see interactions with sex dolls on the screen, the sanitization of the bleak world that Cline creates outside of the Oasis is disappointing, because these original elements out of Cline’s head were the novel’s best parts. It’s understandable that everyone is so desperate to escape from the world Cline creates, whereas Spielberg’s is bad, but doesn’t seem completely unliveable. I guess one could argue that the growing escapism culture inevitably lead humanity to this sort of world even if it isn’t so bad outside, but the character’s motivation is a lot less relatable without the desperation that all the characters had.
With all this said, I’m struggling after all these paragraphs of criticism to find a way to transition back to answering the point I made in the first sentence. That transition is necessary though, because despite all my criticism for both the film and the novel, I ultimately would say that Ready Player One is not an awful movie. In fact, I would go as far as to say that I had a lot of fun with it. I’m not happy with that fact. Just like I’m not happy about the fact that I ultimately probably like the novel as well (maybe even more than the movie), if I’m really honest with myself.
These ARE the memories of my youth, and it’s nice to see them treated well for the most part. And some of the stuff I feel the most nostalgia for, and relate the most to, are the things that Wade and his friends are going through in trying to find a way to connect to this world that continues to push towards isolation, and that all is certainly there. And of course, Spielberg is one of the all time best at creating excellent action sequences and moments that tug on the even the blackest hearts.
I dunno. I just know this film is going to infuriate too many people for me to whole heartedly recommend it. But I just have to admit that I liked it.