This article was first published on the public account "Empty Grave". For any form of reproduction, please contact the author.
I'm honored to see this movie on the spot.
On the smoggy Tuesday night, I rushed to the screening location, real-name system, confiscated mobile phones, and signed non-disclosure agreements... Although everyone who came to watch the movie had their own purposes, after all this tossing, they were still willing to stay in front of the big screen. Those who sit down and wait for the movie with a pious face, without exception, are serious people.
For example, I am very serious, and I just read the original novel roughly before watching the movie. It can be regarded as the basic accomplishment of a game blind, comic book blind, movie lover, and senior bookworm.
I have a hunch that after the movie is officially released, there will be a large wave of emotional fans with tears in their eyes coming to look for easter eggs and shake their burdens. After thinking about it again and again, I think it is necessary to represent a passer-by audience like me, and tell me my simple and plain after-view.
If there is something wrong, it must be because I, a stubborn middle-aged woman, have insufficient knowledge and understanding. There are a lot of game and comic experts. Long live your understanding.
Next, get down to business.
Let's talk about the original
Without any sentiment bonus (note! This is a major premise!), I may only give 6 points to this novel published in 2011.
The advantages can be said to be obvious. The author uses a narrative style that is useful and flattering to a particular audience. At first glance, it is from the hands of a pure and enthusiastic sunny otaku who has no writing skills. He maintained a high narrative rhythm all the way, and did not calm down in the end...
The shortcomings are more obvious. From a bookworm's point of view, this book is really really really not interesting enough. In terms of plot promotion, characterization, technical dry goods, and worldview expression, they are all very close to the level of mid-end web articles, and can't be higher.
To sum up the storyline in one sentence:
"A young Luther named Wade led a few friends to clear the levels and solve puzzles in the game of the richest man in the game industry, Halliday, to get three keys, run the villains, get easter eggs, inherit the inheritance, marry the goddess and go to the pinnacle of life. story."
Yes, it is such a simple story that it is difficult for you to spoil it. If you haven't read the original book, I suggest you don't waste time watching it, just go to the movie.
With a 6-point best-selling novel as the background, a lively 8-point movie was made. I have to say that Spielberg is really amazing.
So why didn't Nolan shoot?
(Nomads, please consciously skip this paragraph)
First of all, I will say with the lid on, I am a loyal Nolan fan, but I swear that what I will talk about next is the result of my rational analysis from an objective point of view.
Compared with the lively and passionate old boy Spielberg, Nolan is more like an old cadre who is poking at the corner with a thermos cup and watching with cold eyes. (It’s not that I’m nonsense, Nolan really likes drinking hot tea with a thermos cup 2333333333)
Let's take a look at Spielberg's representative works: "Schindler's List", "Saving Private Ryan", "Cat and Mouse Game", "Artificial Intelligence", "Cat and Mouse War", "Happy Terminal", "ET" "... Does everything make you feel like a grand classic, infinite positive energy, breathtaking, and speechless?
Another look at Nolan: Inception, Interstellar, The Dark Knight, The Follow, Deadly Magic, Memento, Dunkirk, Mysteries. .. ... Calm down and take a look, although there are many so-called "blockbusters", the core of Nolan's story will be darker than that of Spielberg?
Although Nolan's works have different themes, the biggest commonality is " sacrifice " and " imperfection ". Nine of the ten films have dead female protagonists, and eight of the villains are more beautiful than the positive ones. Seven The ending is regrettable. That's why he's one of my favorite directors.
Spielberg is different. The stories he shoots, even if the subject matter is a little dark and heavy at first glance, are always positive and bright in the end.
On the other hand, Nolan's requirements for technical deduction and story logic have the stubbornness and harshness unique to the British. Spielberg is different. After all, he is a hardcore master who dares to touch some story topics that may not be new to everyone.
And the touch of "Ready Player One" is perfect.
Highlight 1: The plot is compact, not procrastination
I was quite worried when I read the original book, I always felt that the author was a little too rambling, didn't he just wear VR glasses, as for the repeated descriptions with such a fuss...
The film basically retains the plot of the original book, but makes some minor adjustments in the focus of the narrative, and these adjustments make the rhythm of the whole story more compact.
At the beginning of the story, it is a narration with a huge amount of information + a virtual world racing scene in one mirror. The narration is mixed with almost 99% of the background knowledge scattered throughout the book, and the racing scenes are simple, lively and exciting.
There's no foreplay and it pulls you into the movie in one fell swoop.
Afterwards, the main characters (I named them the "Five of Retail Investors") appeared one by one in the virtual world OASIS, and went through the levels with the protagonist Wade, constantly switching between the virtual world and the real world, and joined hands to defeat the evil of capitalism. Power IOI Inc.
In the process of winning the eggs, the real players corresponding to the virtual characters also surfaced one after another, and the rhythm of the laughter was just right, neither vulgar nor deliberate.
Among the many small details, my favorite is the foreshadowing of the 25-cent coin. It is smooth and delicate but not too sensational, and it is 10,000 times better than the original life extension method! (The specific plot is inconvenient for spoilers, I recommend everyone to watch the movie!)
Under such a layer-by-layer foreshadowing, the final sublimation is not so abrupt and cliché. It is no exaggeration to say that it is a little bit touching.
Highlight 2: The male lead is soft, the female lead is hard
The avatar of the heroine Artemis, who takes all men and women, and is a cool and handsome dick boom sky, debuted for the first time in the first drag racing scene.
The moment I took off my helmet, wow I was hooked!
In recent years, whether it is novels, animations or movies and TV series, they all like to create such a combination of strong women and weak men. This combination can indeed more firmly grasp the hearts of the audience and create some wonderful sense of conflict.
Speaking of which, I couldn't help but complain. The male protagonist of this film is really soft and maddening. In the real world, he lives in a slum in a slum, but he still has the energy to fall in love with Artemis at first sight in the virtual world.
In contrast, the image of Artemis is extremely three-dimensional and tall. She bears a bloody feud against IOI, and she can always keep calm and dare to sacrifice when fighting.
Not only the heroine, but also several other supporting characters have their own unique skills. And the character of the male protagonist is not very pleasing. His only advantage may be that, as a diehard fan, he knows all the details of the life of the otaku god Halliday.
In other words, if Halliday is Andy Lau, Wade is a replica of Yang Lijuan. And this film has become a star-chasing story that is out of low-level fun.
Highlight 3: Friendship based, wonderful!
In addition to the emotional line where the male and female protagonists are still together, what moves me the most is actually the friendship element in the film.
As a senior otaku who doesn't know how to deal with people, when Wade finally collected three keys and held a virtual contract in hand, he actually withstood the ultimate test from Halliday, and did not repeat his betrayal of friendship and death of loneliness 's mistakes.
At the end of the film, Halliday's loneliness and reflection are very moving. Relying on his excellent talent, he built such a huge game empire, but in real life, Halliday has absolutely no idea how to pursue his sweetheart, let alone how to shake hands with friends and get along well. So that the game eggs left after death are also closely related to various regrets in his life.
Highlight 4: Easter eggs feed you
Regarding the highlight of the easter egg density, it should be rotten by other more professional film critics. From Superman, Batman, King Kong, Godzilla, Gundam (the boy sitting next to me was almost crying when Gundam appeared 2333333) to Wonder Woman, Dungeons and Dragons, Chucky, "The Shining", "Citizen Kane"... I won't list them all here.
I just want to say that as a horror movie lover, Shining and Chucky's memes are very advanced, especially the part of Shining, which made me unable to take my eyes off and laugh.
You can pay attention when you watch it.
Inadequate one: lack of logic
It can be seen that although Spielberg has tried his best, it is still difficult to conceal the lack of logic in the story itself.
For example, the story itself is set in a world that is lingering in the energy crisis 30 years later. In that world, it is difficult for people to find decent jobs, they are addicted to games all day long, and they seek an ethereal sense of security and achievement in the virtual world.
I can't help but recall the days when my friends forced me to play Onmyoji, King of Glory, and chicken. I really couldn't get into it. You must know that the world is very big. In addition to people who love to play games, there will be many people like me who are completely indifferent to teamfighting and adventure games. (But then again, I also have my own games that I am very addicted to, but they are all lonely single-player games: Mechanical Maze, Escape Room, Sudoku.)
For the time being, no matter how untenable the idea of the whole people participating in the game is, the reason why a society can become a society must have basic rules and regulations. And this film from beginning to end, can not see the shadow of the rules and regulations.
It wasn't until the very end that the police finally came out to maintain the order, and I didn't realize that, OMG, there are still police in this world...
Less than two: character motivation is untenable
In addition to the lack of outstanding character of the male lead, the villain in this film should be the stupidest and most pitiful villain I have seen in recent years.
The most paradoxical thing about the whole storyline is that after the male protagonist's extremely superficial and impassioned chicken soup speech, the villain (a game company called IOI) was attacked by the suddenly awakened people.
So what kind of company is this hapless IOI?
To make a simple analogy, if we compare Halliday's company to Alibaba, then we can think that IOI is Tencent, and the boss behind IOI is Ma Huateng.
In fact, what did our Ma Huateng do wrong? He is just using the dark resources in his hand to try to compete for and merge Halliday's legacy! If it's you, your competitors are dead, don't you want to take the opportunity to compete for resources?
What's more, in such an era when the employment rate is sluggish and everyone is precarious, it is so rare that IOI can provide employment opportunities for many ordinary people...
In this era when even Korean dramas are innovating, such a story that the villain is not anti-rebellious enough and the decent is too serious is indeed not worth scrutiny.
Oh yes, the big boss of IOI in this film happens to be called Nolan, ahhahahahahahahahahahaha.
Less than three: emotional drama is naive and blunt
Really, play with feelings, play with easter eggs, just don't play romance with otaku. I seriously doubt that the romance in the otaku world may be in another dimension.
The hero and heroine fell in love not long after the beginning, touching each other's little faces, pulling little hands, and flirting with each other, and the first two keys were in hand? ! The speed of this plot development really makes the island country love action movies feel ashamed...
Not to mention the group of IOI experts who are bitter in front of the puzzle but have no idea how to solve it, even me in front of the screen feels very angry! ! ! Why are you letting the two guys try their best to stuff dog food without saying anything, and watching them go through one level after another? ? ? ! ! !
write at the end
The film sublimates the obscure parts of the original book to perfection. Except for two small insights that make people feel a little bit moved, there is no big reason:
First, we must attach importance to friendship and have a grateful heart.
Second, no matter how exciting the virtual world is, don't forget to connect with people in the real world.
Middle-aged women like us who don't like to play games and like to watch "Hundred Years Tavern", "London Life" and other mourning films, have such a rare opportunity to watch such a sunny and passionate film, I feel very It is necessary to write a serious review of it.
As a digression, the virtual world in the film is called "OASIS", which happens to have the same name as a famous British band, and even the artistic conception of "turning back to the desert and embracing the oasis" is very similar.
British music lovers should be familiar with this sentence: When you are decadent, listen to British, OASIS will scold you and slap you both to cheer you up; Suede will say don't be unhappy. Come, let's take a drug and dance , Muse will say that a decadent bird will fly into the universe with Lao Tzu's laser light; Radiohead will persuade you to say that if you are not happy, let's just kill yourself...
Yes, that's right, I'm a diehard fan of Radiohead and a fan of Suede... But I really can't stand up to OASIS songs...
A literati once said that people always feel proud from the bottom of their hearts that the era before them is the essence, and the era after them is garbage. Those who read ancient books despise those who read martial arts, those who read martial arts despise those who read romance, those who read romance despise those who read comics, those who read comics despise those who read Kuaishou...
I'm guessing that the movie will spark a similar debate after it's released.
Actually, I think everyone needs to relax a little bit. As long as a certain culture can bring comfort, resonance or a sense of presence to a specific group of people, then it has its own value.
Life is already hard. Let's watch the movie and stop fighting, okay?
At the end of the film, when I was sitting in the screening room, I suddenly remembered what Monica said at the beginning of "Friends" to encourage Rachel: "Welcome to the real world. It sucks, but you are gona love it."
Whenever I think of this sentence, I can't help but feel sore eyes. Yes, face life, always face it, know what it is, know forever, love it for what it is, and then give it up.
Living with us, is it just a game?
I hope that when we reach the end of the game over and look back on our life, there will be no more regrets like Halliday.
Again, I recommend everyone to watch this movie.
This article was first published on the public account "Empty Grave". For any form of reproduction, please contact the author.
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