Steven Spielberg, one of the greatest directors of our time but also the director who opened the gateways of blockbuster movies with Jaws, has been in a phase since War Horse where he told different stories in the past settings with that movie, Lincoln (my favorite of his recent work), Bridge of Spies, The BFG (even though it is a fantasy adventure) and The Post. There is nothing wrong with those movies, well, maybe the BFG, but he has been making these old-school movies that appeal to a certain demographic. And, people have been asking where the Spielberg of blockbuster movies have been? To be honest, even those couple a historical movies are real good, I have missed those fun blockbuster popcorn movies from Spielberg. So, he was set to task to adapt Ernest Cline's book for the movie to create a world of virtual reality and pop culture from material that we loved. Even though there are problems with character and narrative towards the end, this movie was a blast.
We open in 2045 in Columbus, Ohio where a number of trailers are stacked on top of one of another called, of course, "The Stacks." Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), an orphan, lives with his aunt Alice (Susan Lynch) and her abusive boyfriend, Rick (Ralph Ineson). Like the rest of the world, Wade escape into the virtual reality system called the OASIS, a VR video game where people can enter themselves as avatars to entertain themselves and can seek pleasure for themselves because there is hardly any in the real world. He encounters other avatars such as Batman, Freddy Krueger, etc. Wade's avatar is Percival who frequently interacts with Aech (Lena Waithe), a huge muscular mechanic.
The OASIS was created by James Halliday (Mark Rylance) and Ogden Morrow (Simon Pegg), who have founded another games before creating the OASIS. Halliday died five years earlier, but left fans the ultimate challenge. In his final video, Halliday informed everyone that he has hidden an Easter egg in the game that will be unlocked when three challenges have been completed. The one who will find the egg will be completely rich and have complete control of the OASIS.
Wade and other people have been trying to find the Egg for years with no avail. The first challenge was unlocked long ago, which is a race into Central Park. He goes back into the OASIS as Percival and uses the DeLorean as his vehicle to get to the finish line. Because of interference from King Kong and another vehicle named Art3mis, aka Samantha (Olivia Cooke), almost make it and Kong destroys Art3mis' motorcycle. Also, the CEO of IOI (Innovative Online Industries), Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn) is planning to create some bug in the game as he is also looking for the Easter Egg.
I had a lot of fun as this was escapist entertainment as the characters consider the OASIS as escapist entertainment to get away from the real world and I think both Spielberg and Cline are geniuses to showcase us that in both images in the movie and words in the script. Even though I have not read the book, I have heard from other people who have that this movie is real different but it does not get rid of the core of Cline's book. The message is forefront is that even though the OASIS is an escapist world, people are too consumed by power to possess the coveted treasure in the virtual reality world. Maybe, Spielberg is saying to us and showing us that even though we, as a society, are too immersed in our phones and virtual reality to get away, the lack of communication between people dwindles more.
The main problem I had with this movie was the young characters as there was thin characterization in the real world as we know they are trapped in a terrible low-income society full of pollution and trash. But, even though the young characters have spirit, there is not much added to the young characters. Tye Sheridan and Olivia Cooke give very good performances to the characters they were given. Mark Rylance was quite great in a supporting role as Halliday being like a "wizard-like" figure or like Willy Wonka to give people the keys to the OASIS if successful. I really like Mendelsohn as he play villains well but his villain was not as compelling or memorable this time around as he wants the OASIS for himself.
Spielberg knew exactly what he was doing making this movie as he wants to sit down, enjoy and relive all of the nostalgic pop culture that different generations of audiences got when those movies first premiered. It is like we, the audience, are gazing at the wonderful and astounding visuals and we are hearing Spielberg just laughing alongside us because of the experience. This is the funnest Spielberg movie in a long time despite a few problems in the narrative and the character development. I would have balanced the virtual reality footage with the real world more, instead focusing more on the virtual reality. The movie does end a bit weak, which again Spielberg still needs to work on. But, did I like most of the Easter eggs in here? Yes. Did I like the message? Yes, even though it hammers me with that a bit much. This movie is a return of a little bit of magic that Spielberg gave us in the 70s and 80s that made us munch on popcorn and enjoy the experience and he succeeds. Video-game fans, movie fans and teenagers will enjoy this.
***1/2
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