Ready Player One (2018)

If you are a fan of Science Fiction like Black Mirror, The Matrix or Daemon,  the recent film by Steven Spielberg – Ready Player One (2018) will be underwhelming. It has a simple plot – the hero, a master video game player through his prowess and help from his lover and his friends, defeat the bad guy and save the world. The film is good and enjoyable, but I found no fresh creativity or mind bending twists that keeps you cogitating about a Sci-Fi work long after you watched it.

Maybe it is just me, recently I have been wondering why most of the Science Fiction works have to be about a dystopian world? Can’t master storytellers write storylines that are set in a universe that is fun, happy and technologically sophisticated?

Ready Player One is set in the year 2045, most of the population in the world spend their waking moments inside a virtual world called the OASIS. Just before his death, the creator of OASIS, James Halliday, the richest man leaves behind a will whereby the player who first discovers the easter egg (three keys) in OASIS will inherit all the power and money to his empire. There is a worldwide race for this, with a giant corporation IOI spending billions and employing thousands to achieve victory by brute force. In this context, our hero, an 18-year old goes about solving the puzzle. In between, he finds his love in OASIS.

The lead pair Tye Sheridan and Olivia Cooke have done their roles well.