Hate to be the guy to step on the moment but...
I think I'm gonna step on the moment...
Before the movie, the circle of friends was so enthusiastic that I was looking forward to it.
In the New York chase scene at the beginning of the movie, I saw my adrenaline rush.
The entire film is indeed very well-made, whether it is special effects, music, or quotations and tribute to Pop Culture in the 1980s (of course it should be attributed to the original author), all constitute a perfect viewing experience. Especially for people with certain home attributes, this film is simply Geek's carnival. When I was watching a movie, I was thinking that if Abed from "Waste Wood League" watched this movie, I'm afraid he would pass out in the movie theater (especially the Breakfast Club).
But... I still want to say but.
Maybe I'm not a pure Geek yet. Maybe it's because I don't know much about American Pop Culture in the 1980s. I always feel... it's cool, but at the end it's still a bit... disappointed.
After watching the movie, I took a look at Rotten Tomatoes, which has the most fans. The freshness is 77% and the score is 7/10, which is similar to my feelings.
After thinking about it, the disappointment should be mainly in three points:
- As a blockbuster of 2018, it's too Old Fashion.
Saying Old-fashion is mainly from the story, it is the kind of standard hero journey that is peaceful and stable. From the beginning of the story, you can see it at a glance. No part of the bridge can give people the feeling of bright. Heroes are standard small people, marginalized heroes, and some are bitter, and there are also exotic ones. The villain is also a standard villain, and the conflict between the two parties is also a very standard conflict. In addition to the modernity brought by the visual effects, other places, including the dialogue of the characters, are reminiscent of the classic movies made by Spielberg and Lucas in the last century. It's not that it's bad, it's just... I've eaten this dish many times, and there are no surprises.
There are a few supporting characters that are quite interesting, such as I Rock, who is full of mouths, and is very similar to the stone man in Thor 3. It can be seen that the new Hollywood blockbusters have learned a lot from Marvel. However, the overall situation is still unable to continue to surprise people like Marvel (although Marvel also has its own problems).
- As a sci-fi blockbuster about the future world, it is too shallow.
Since seeing "Blade Runner 2049" in theaters in 2017, we have regained our confidence in sci-fi blockbusters-we still have the ability to discuss some serious issues besides showing special effects. The hot selling of superhero blockbusters in recent years seems to dispel the seriousness of sci-fi movies to some extent, but at least it can be said that the good sci-fi movies in history have more or less brought people a certain degree of recognition. The shocking. And what does "Ready Player One" tell us...? The only thing I learned from the whole look is: "You can only have a great meal in Reality."
Pretty old stuff... Relatively speaking, the amount of information contained in the opening ten minutes of "The Matrix" will be much larger than that of the entire film of "Ready Player One". Although this comparison is a bit unfair... But for a movie that shows a ruined future world from the beginning and tells me that in the future, people will all live in a huge game, I will at least look forward to it. The director told me whether this kind of world is good or not, whether this kind of life is worth living, and through the adventures of the heroes and heroines to reveal a certain truth in this world. However...
Perhaps this kind of comparison is not fair to the director, after all, the science fiction film directed by the director should still focus on emotion and show the visual spectacle (think "ET" and "Jurassic Park"). From the popcorn index, this movie is also very good.
- As a Geek-oriented movie, it's too Literal.
This may be a little selfish. I always feel that although there are a lot of details, easter eggs, and bridges in the movie that obviously pay tribute to the Geeks, the director still has a little misunderstanding about what kind of movie Geeks like best. It's not that pop-culture references will definitely be loved by Geeks. The key is to look at the connotation and essence of these references, and whether they can bring people the intellectual superiority of solving puzzles.
So where is the problem here? It's just that such a reference is too literal. A Programmer who likes pop culture made a game, which is full of various references, and then anyone who wants to get the final treasure must solve the mystery by understanding himself and pop culture...the whole thing is for people A more deliberate feeling (it is probably still a problem with the original work). As a Geek, you may be excited by the large number of music, film, and game stalks in the film, and feel very heart-warming, but I am afraid that this is a Geek-oriented masterpiece.
So what should a good reference look like? Personally, I feel that there should be multiple levels, or it should be more Meta (meta-cognition?), at least there is a certain deconstruction. Take "Waste Wood Alliance" as an example. Because of the existence of the character Abed, there are a lot of stories filled with references, but the characters in the play can always realize this kind of reference in time, and eliminate this kind of reference from a higher level. (eg. Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas), or more cleverly, allows the plot to give people new feelings when it meets such a reference (eg. A Fistfull of Paintball, Basic Lupine Urology). And if you remove such Meta elements, it might seem a bit second... In this film, the tribute to "The Shining" is very Meta-like. But other than that, both Gundam (I heard it should be Ultraman...Cannian) and Godzilla are a bit too direct.
Of course, having said so much, perhaps a bit misunderstood the director's intentions. As a great director who created Pop Culture half the sky with almost one hand, maybe this movie is just a nostalgia for Steward’s own memory of the 80s, just like the previous "Super Eight", it is still very meaningful on a nostalgic level. of. Maybe the post-80s Americans will look very happy-but I may not experience that feeling.
View more about Ready Player One reviews
