By Joe Illingworth, junior –
Grace Holistic Center for Education in Yorkville –
Ready Player One is a movie interpretation of the book written by Ernest Cline. The movie was directed by Steven Spielberg and was funded by Warner Bros.. The movie is based in a dystopian world where over-population is a problem. People live in “stacks” which are motor homes stacked up on each other. The main character, Wade Owen Watts, is played by Tye Sheridan who has been in many other movies such as X-men Apocalypse, and Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse.
The actor did a good job in the live scenes. But where he shined was putting emotions behind his words when voicing the animated counterpart, his Oasis account. The movie was a ride of familiar and old emotions as there were tons of characters and references.
Seeing BattleToads characters, even in the background, brought back the feeling of sitting down as a kid, trying to beat that one level that I kept failing at. Though I am sad that they didn’t incorporate the feeling of getting knocked down in a game and getting back up again and again just to get better that much. They did it a few times with gunters (other players) constantly looking and trying, but I couldn’t really empathize with them that much.
The movie incorporated many TV and movie references, which brought back a load of memories, good and bad. All in all I would love to see the movie again, the nostalgia trip makes me feel like I’m four again and sitting in front of the TV on my NES, imagining what it would be like to actually be in the game. I recently got a VR headset and enjoy it quite a lot. It’s definitely not the Oasis and nowhere near as advanced, but it’s a step there. The Oasis may be born soon, hopefully without the overpopulation and need to stack homes. But the passion behind the community that’s trying to build toward that VR future, cheers to you guys.
This movie is still playing in most theatres, general admission can cost between $5. to $10. depending on the theater.
