Four stars. Rated PG-13, for dramatic intensity, sci-fi action violence, bloody images, suggestive content, partial nudity and fleeting profanity
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 3.30.18
Pop-culture junkies will love
this one.
I haven’t had so much fun with an
iconic characters mash-up since Daffy Duck met Donald Duck, in 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
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| As Aech (far left) and Art3mis (far right) listen attentively, Parzival queries the Curator about a particularly telling incident in the life of the eccentric genius who created the virtual reality enviroment in which they spend so much time. |
While there’s no question that Ready Player One will resonate most with
avid video gamers — and folks whose homes are clustered with artifacts from the
1980s — this exuberant sci-fi/fantasy certainly is approachable to mainstream
viewers. It’s brash, boisterous and breathtaking by turns, and augmented at all
times by the cinematic sense of wonder that Steven Spielberg has brought to his
films since, well, seems like forever. (And aren’t we lucky?)
That said, the narrative —
co-scripted by Zak Penn and Ernest Cline, from the latter’s popular 2011 novel
— relies more on momentum than plot logic and common sense. Viewers are likely
to exit the theater with plenty of questions that begin with the phrase “But
what about...?” Even so, it’s not entirely soulless eye-candy; a strong
cautionary note beats at the heart of this fast-paced thrill ride.
One hopes that civilization won’t
come to this ... although I also whispered that fervent prayer after seeing 1982’s
Blade Runner the first time. And just
as that film has proven prophetic in a variety of disturbing ways, there’s enough
current self-indulgent behavior to suggest that the message illuminated by Ready Player One should be taken very seriously.
The year is 2045, and our young
hero — Wade Watts, played by Tye Sheridan — lives in “the Stacks”: a rundown
vertical trailer park in Columbus, Ohio. (High fives to production designer
Adam Stockhausen, for this terrifying vision of the near future’s life on the
edge.) He shares this tight space with his grouchy aunt and her nasty, loser
boyfriend; unemployment, poverty, overcrowding and utter hopelessness are
rampant.
The U.S. government apparently
has abandoned any pretense of environmental mitigation, human rights, corporate
restraint or beneficial socio-political oversight; “outlying” cities such as
Columbus have simply become huge trash heaps of discarded vehicles and other
manufacturing refuse. The (rather too vague) impression is that the country has
been split between the lucky 5 percent in the tech sector ... and everybody
else.
In other words, life in the real
world ain’t too good.
