by Jeremy Reyes | staff writer

Steven Spielberg returns to the big screen with an explosive sci-fi epic filled to the brim with video game and movie references from the 80’s as well as more recent games. Right off the bat I knew Ready Player One was going to be a game of “count the references,” and it certainly doesn’t disappoint.

Beyond that, the actual story of the movie was really intriguing because it stretches the boundary of sci-fi with an almost realistic concept: virtual reality and the escape from the depressing world we live in. Is it really that far out of a concept that we may one day have advanced virtual reality so much that it’s like we are actually in the game? In the movie and book, the creator of OASIS James Donovan Halliday, upon his death, left a challenge for the players to solve three extraordinarily difficult challenges within the game to obtain three keys that would allow you to obtain the “easter egg.” Receiving this would give you access to the Halliday fortune and control of the OASIS.

The movie was visually amazing with an excellent use of CGI, making the battle scenes an absolute blast to watch. The humor was on point, you didn’t have to be a connoisseur of video games to get the jokes.

The characters themselves were kind of a mixed bag, but overall pretty decent. Wade ”Parzival” Watts was your standard relatable gamer geek who just so happen to be an epic gamer because he has no life. Samantha “Art3mis” Cook is the hot gamer girl that all geeks dream about but will never date, she’s also an amazing gamer. Toshiro “Daito” Yoshiaki is the disciplined samurai who has arguably some of the most epic action sequences in the movie. Akihide “Shoto” Karatsu is the ninja to Daito’s samurai he’s cool too but not as cool as Daito. The last but certainly not least hero of our group is Aech, I can’t reveal the name of this character because that would be a spoiler. James Halliday is what I would describe as a “successful loser.” The creator of the most influential technological advancements of the century who has made billions of dollars, but at the same time he had many of the traits people would describe as a “loser,” such as being geeky and being horribly awkward when it comes to women.

The main villain of the story was Nolan Sorrento who was your cut and dry bad guy who runs an evil corporation. However, he wasn’t really all that memorable due to the shallow development of character.

Overall, Ready Player One is an amazing movie that anyone who is a fan of video games or are just a fan of Spielberg would most definitely enjoy.  My rating: A+