I watched Ready Player One for the fun of it. I didn’t care about it when it came out. It looked like a generic sci-fi epic with some great visuals and probably nothing else. Although with its abundance of pop culture references I thought I’d check it out eventually. Hence now, three months after its March release in the UK, I did. Were my preconceptions correct? To certain extent, yes.

Based on the bestselling novel of the same, Ready Player One takes place in the future world of 2045 where everyone escapes their impoverished reality through the Oasis, an extensive virtual reality where you can do and be anything you want. Following his death, James Halliday, the creator of the Oasis, leaves his massive fortune to whoever finds a specific Easter Egg hidden in the virtual world. This sparks a huge, worldwide competition. One which Wade Watts decides to join, completely unaware of the grand adventure ahead of him.

The World and References

The film presents a thought-out video game reality. The Oasis works very much like an online roleplaying game like World of Warcraft. We see players walking around as their avatars that they’ve chosen and altered to their liking. They have money they can buy weapons with. There are planets in the Oasis that specialize in certain activities, for example there is a planet called “Minecraft World” where players create their own Minecraft structures. It’s an exciting and well-built setting and certainly one of the film’s strengths.

The big highlights however are the pop culture references, which makes Ready Player One a delight for any fan of sci-fi, fantasy, horror and superheroes. There are references to big, popular brands like Batman, Back to the Future, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Shining and Halo and references to more niche properties like Godzilla, Battlestar Galactica and even David Lynch’s Dune (when I saw the references to that I had to smile).

It’s incredible to see so many characters, props and weapons from multiple franchises together in one film. The only film I can think of that comes close to being similarly enjoyable is Who Framed Roger Rabbit with its references to multiple cartoons.

The Characters

This is Ready Player One’s big weakness. The idea of the film’s story is actually quite poignant but its execution, particularly through the characters, makes the film a very unengaging watch.

The story follows Wade and his friends’ struggle to win the competition before Nolan Sorrento, a businessman from a large company, does. As they investigate, trying to find clues regarding the Easter Egg’s location, they see Halliday’s past, learning how and why he created the Oasis. Without getting into spoilers, the theme of Ready Player One is a relevant and relatable one regarding today’s technological culture. The story and theme had potential but unfortunately the characters are so basic they make the film pretty boring.

Wade has little to no characterization. He has no flaws or quirks. He’s the generic ‘Hero’s Journey’ protagonist who comes from an undesirable home and has a dream of success. The other characters are similarly bland. Aech is the confident, supportive best friend, Nolan is the ruthless, corporate antagonist and Art3mis is the feisty, aggressive love interest who doesn’t appear interested in the protagonist at first but over the course of the story falls in love with him. The only character I found interesting or empathetic was James Halliday because, once again without getting spoilers, he had flaws, quirks and a more complex and relatable backstory.

If the film consisted of more action scenes, pop culture references and world building, I’d forgive the bland characters but since the 2 hour and 19-minute runtime consists mostly of the characters, I can’t. I’m not even sure if I can say its worth seeing just for the references as they take a backseat to the characters.

Overall, despite its impressive world and abundance of pop culture references, the characters make Ready Player One an underwhelming experience. If you think you can tolerate bland characters then I recommend it. If you think you can’t, maybe watch it while doing something else. Looking up at the screen and seeing something you recognize will make a mundane activity like wrapping presents a bit more enjoyable.

I give Ready Player One an average 6 out of 10.