Film: Ready Player One Starring: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Lena Waithe, Philip Zow, Win Morisaki, Simon Pegg, Mark Rylance, and Ben Mendelsohn, T.J. Miller Director: Steven Spielberg Author: Ernest Cline Review: Maria Agostini Rating: 4.5X's out of 5X's The much anticipated Ready Player One has finally hit theaters, and James Halliday himself would be very proud of Steven Spielberg. Not only did Ready Player one have a great storyline, cast, and soundtrack, but the visual effects and animation were so mind blowing you felt as if you were part of the action and living within the Oasis. Spielberg has truly outdone himself and shown everyone that you are never too old to have fun and use your pure imagination. Ready Player One is basically nerd heaven. With references ranging from The Shining to Mortal Kombat, you can walk into the film knowing that you will spot no less than a dozen pop culture references that you know. Super fans of pop culture icons and anything “nerdy” will find hundreds.
Tye Sheridan did a wonderful job bringing the socially (and romantically) awkward Wade Watts to life. Even if you aren’t a teenager, odds are that, on some level, you will relate to one of the High Five members in some way or another. All five actors were perfectly cast and had great chemistry that helped bring to life our five heroes. Let’s not forget Ben Mendelsohn’s, whose performance as Sorrento was so good, we couldn’t help but love hating him. Was Ready Player One exactly like the book? No. Was Ready Player One anything like the book? No! And that’s okay! With the screenplay being written by both Spielberg and Cline (the author of the novel), the film created a new story that kept the basic plot of the novel but added new twists that kept even die-hard gunters on their toes. And though the story was very different, the characters personalities were still true to the book and the film had the same Ernest Cline spirit and essence that we have grown to love.In short, go see Ready Player One and get yourself a copy of the novel. This is an amazing journey you won't forget!