Ready Player One

 

The Book:

            This awesome book by Ernest Cline was one of my favorites to read. It takes place in the not-too-distant future where it follows Wade Watts as he tries to find Halliday’s Easter Egg. Halliday created a virtual reality called the Oasis, which becomes wildly popular and people basically spend all day online – going to work, school, hanging out, trying a thousand different worlds and opportunities to be found there. After Halliday’s death, he announces to the world that he’s hidden three keys which lead to three gates and if you can find all the keys and gates first, you get his Easter Egg, which is control over the Oasis. This obviously starts a huge hunt but in the five years after his death, not even the first key had been found.

            What is wonderful about this book is the references to 80’s pop culture – books, movies, songs, games, people, you name it. Halliday loved the 80’s and so a deep study of his life and interests are key to finding the keys and gates. Ernest Cline does a great job littering fun references to all kinds of things throughout the book.

            This book was engaging, entertaining and full of great imagery. The plot line was solid and while character development isn’t a big focus, you still enjoy the relationships that are displayed in the book. All in all, a fun read.

 

 

 

The Movie:

            Alright, the 2018 movie of Ready Player One was one that I was massively anticipating because I enjoyed the book so much. It was….how shall I put it….very loosely based on the book. Very loosely.

            It still follows Wade Watts, albeit in a different setting, as he struggles to figure out the clues to find the first key. The commonalities between the movie and the book are: Same character names, still three keys, still a contest, Halliday and his hunt exist, same bad guys… and that’s about it. The key riddles are different, there are no gates, the circumstances of the contest are different and even what happens to key characters is different. This movie was so loosely based, it could almost be its own movie altogether.

            The one plus side of this movie was the visuals. It has so many “blink and you miss it” moments where it shows 80’s characters, subtle music cues and sound effects. It was fun to watch because you get to see how many things you can recognize, but it’s hardly based off the book that you kind of need to view it as a separate thing.

 

The Verdict:

            Book wins! While I enjoyed the movie, its plot is not as strong or engaging as the book, and the visual treats are not enough to connect the movie to the book. It has a decent Rotten Tomatoes score of 72% so its definitely not a bad movie, just not based off the book. Watch it for its entertainment value, but read the book for the great story.