Ready Player One vs the Film

Amazing visuals and a cohesive narration overall in this faithful variation. 4.5 of 5 stars.

S thinks it was essential to set the scene in a way that kids today would understand. I still believe the novel was ready to go as is - the whole point of Wade Watts was to create the social context of the Oasis and explain the 80s references including all the games. But Ernest Cline, the author, was working with the screenwriter and director, I guess, so he wasn’t surprised... gotta find out more.

Really glad to have read the book again prior to watching this. I would have kept Ultraman and the scheme in the beginning of the last third. It would have worked fine. S thinks they should have established Halliday and Morrow’s friendship more and I’m with him on that.

Tye Sheridan and Olivia Cooke had pretty good onscreen chemistry. Credible, but Sheridan was kind of wooden at times. And I totally thought Mark Rylance was Dana Carvey at first glance - but S corrected me :-) And Simon Pegg in a serious role. Hm... not sure how I feel about that!

Great plot twists and creative use of the novel setting. An emphasis on the value of relationship in the real world. And such a great dance scene - the first one, not the one with the zombies. I still prefer the book to the film in this case!