When I read Ernest Cline’s “Ready Player One” back in 2012, I thoroughly enjoyed the celebration of 1980s pop culture. I even bought the audio book a few years later so I could experience it in a different medium (with Wil Wheaton fittingly as the narrator). After reading and listening to the book, one thing I could not put my mind on was how they would ever make this into a movie.
Protagonist Wade Watts (also known as Parzival), enters the Oasis world that I imagined was all animated. Something like a grown-up Pixar movie. When I heard that Steven Spielberg would take the helm to direct the adaptation, it intrigued me.
Spielberg took liberties with the movie, and while some changes worked for the better, I preferred the events in the book. One example is with the first challenge. In the book, Parzival wins the first challenge by obtaining The Copper Key, where he plays Dungeons & Dragons and Joust. What I liked about it is that we know Parzival wins the first challenge in the Preface. In the movie, the challenge instead is a race ala Fast & Furious, yet no one ever wins. It felt like Spielberg had to rely on action to set the stage. I loved the book’s subtlety of Parzival winning the first challenge, because we, the readers, much like everyone in the Oasis, are wondering what else he could be capable of.
I will say that the second challenge in the movie with The Shining was creative and well filmed, with the characters hopping from one zombie to another. In the book, the challenge involved the movie War Games, which I haven’t seen. Because he was just required to recite the movie, which I didn’t find it memorable.
Probably the biggest change that I wish didn’t happen was doing away with the Pac-Man game to achieve the coin. Instead, in the movie, Parzival receives a coin from which turns out to be the virtual library guide, who we find out later is Ogden’s avatar. This coin was essential because the second life allowed Parzival to win the whole thing. However, I liked the idea of actually winning a mini-game to get that coin, rather than knowing the background of Halladay’s life. And what also bothered me was that in the movie, Ogden’s avatar didn’t present the challenge to Parzival. So how could anyone win the ultimate prize if those challenges aren’t there in the first place? It just seemed too convenient for Parzival to win the coin that way. At least with the Pac-Man game, it would be plausible for someone to come across it. Because without the coin, no one would ever win.
My last issue with the movie is more with Hollywood itself. In the book, Parzival, Aech, and Art3mis are all overweight in the real world. Instead, in the movie, Tye Sheridan, Lena Waithe, and Olivia Cooke, respectively, play those characters. Waithe is a believable choice. I guess you could say Sheridan pulled off the nerdy look. But Cooke was not overweight at all and her issue of a mark on her face was barely noticeable in the movie. The insecurities they had in the book were laughable, because it seemed like first world problems, Hollywood edition.
The movie was still entertaining. But to get the feel of Parzival’s love for 1980s pop culture, the book goes into greater detail, leading to a more nostalgic experience.
Sources:
https://www.indiewire.com/2018/03/ready-player-one-differences-book-movie-1201943145/