Ready Player One (2018)

I did not know what I would really think about it when I started to watch this movie. I hoped that I would like it but I was not sure what I would actually get. I used to like Steven Spielberg a lot but later in his career he’s done movies that either was not my kind of movies or that I was simply not that impressed by. However, as it turned out, this one I liked a lot as you can see from my rating.
As a computer nerd and science fiction geek this movie was of course right up my alley. I have thought other movies would be my kind of movies before but been sorely disappointed by ignorant and incompetent screen writers and directors trying to cash in on subjects that they knew absolutely nothing about. Spielberg did a good job of not screwing this one up.
The core of this movie is of course plenty of action and computer generated special effects with a somewhat apocalyptic story to bind everything together. The story works but it is not really anything special and some of the stuff, like the loyalty centers, was frankly a bit silly. But, as I wrote, it works and does not get in the way so that’s good enough for me.
As the previously mentioned nerd and geek I absolutely loved the abundant references to science fiction, fantasy and gaming history and lore. For me those were soo cool. I will probably watch the movie again just to focus on the background and see how much stuff I can spot. Stuff that I missed when watching the movie the first time.
The CGI effects and the action was also pretty awesome. The movie starts off right away with a great and absolutely insanely wild car race and continues to go strong from there. The battle at Doom castle at the end is just epic.
The only thing that made me go WTF was at the end [SPOILER AHEAD] were Mr Asswipe Sorrento finally catches up with the High Five’s van and the he just freezes and looks at Wade with a silly look on his face. What the fuck was that? Just stupid for no good reason.
Well, few are the movies where there’s nothing to gripe about. On the whole though this movie was great in my book. Also, I cannot say how pleased I am to finally watch a Hollywood movie that is not a remake or a sequel or a prequel or some other lame excuse to rehash a movie that has already been made.

There's a moment in this movie when the central character says "I love her". His friend hastily replies, "Slow down bro... she could be a 300 lb man living in his mom's basement." In the very brief beat between the two lines, I thought FINALLY a movie about falling in love completely independent of what a person's genetics may be. And then the crushing cynicism in a dystopian world where there is little to live for and even less to hope for: even in a nightmare, a fat man is undateable.
Don't worry though. If you have the skills you may end up on top. Just like Ben Mendelsohn's slave-owning antagonist almost did. Because in this story, it's not a world where anyone feels compassion or empathy. It's a world where everyone only thinks of themselves. A sociopath's dream. And that's what earns the top prize.
I love looking at Tye Sheridan. But not enough to sit through this again.