Ready Player One (2018)
4 Stars out of 5
Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixWL1BWi44U
I finally got around to checking out Ready Player One and it was everything I expected the movie to be. I watched the trailer once and left it at that since the movie's plot is about finding the first ever Easter Egg, which the movie itself is all about Pop Culture Easter Eggs. Kind of like an Easter Egg inside of an Easter Egg instead of an.....well, you get the idea. Full disclosure, I have no connection to the source material the movie is based on. I didn't even know there was a book before the promotional stuff for the film started leaking out. So, I really am coming at this completely unaware. I don't have a clue what was added to the movie for the sake of fleshing out the story. But one thing that I did suspect was added was the whole The Shining gag, only because of Steven Spielberg's relationship to Stanley Kubrick. I imagine, given how big of a Kubrick fan Spielberg is, he wanted to pay homage to him in this way. Now if this was in fact in the book, then it makes perfect sense why Spielberg wanted to direct this.
So, how was the movie itself? It was entertaining and fun. But I'm not sure someone that's not in my generation would care for this. I grew up in the age of where all the Easter Eggs are derived from. It's my own personal connections to these touchstone's that make the Eggs mean as much as they do for me. Now speaking of the Eggs, this is a movie that requires multiple viewings to find them. There is so much going on at all times, if you are staring at a particular part of the screen, you will see an Easter Egg, but you will miss a those around the one you're looking at. Sure, you could pull up Wiki or go to YouTube and find a video highlighting all the cameos. But where's the fun in that. I'll save my hunt for the next time I watch the movie. So, Ready Player One is a movie I can recommend for sure. If the plot isn't something you're interested in, there's a lot going on to keep you busy for sure.