A nerd’s dream: ‘Ready Player One’

A hand holding Ready Player One and Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline. There is a brick wall behind for decoration.
My copies of Ready Player One and Ready Player Two
Spoiler alert: this review contains plot detail from both the book and the movie

Ready Player One was awesome when it came out and it’s still phenomenal now. The New York Times Bestseller is considered a classic in my house, and an absolute must-read/watch.

This beloved series starts in America in the 2040s. Just like any good story set in the future, the world has gone bad. The only way to escape the world around you is the OASIS, a virtual reality world which basically replaced the internet upon its release.

Five years before the story begins, James Halliday – co-creator of the OASIS – dies. His will announces that one lucky person has the opportunity to inherit control of the OASIS and his multibillion dollar fortune.

The only way to inherit it is to participate in the biggest contest on the planet, with millions of others also vying for the grand prize.

The opening page of Ready Player One. The text reads: It's the year 2044, and the real world has become an ugly place. We're out of oil. We've wrecked the climate. Famine, poverty and disease are widespread. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade is obsessed by the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this alternate reality: OASIS founder James Halliday, who dies with no heir, has promised that control of the OASIS - and his massive fortune - will go to the person who can solve the riddles he has left scattered throughout his creation. For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that the riddles are based on Halliday's obsession with 80s pop culture. And then Wade stumbled onto the key to the first puzzle. suddenly, he finds himself pitted against thousands of competitors in a desperate race to claim the ultimate prize, a chase that soon takes on terrifying real-world dimensions - and that will leave both Wade and his world profoundly changed.
The first page of Ready Player One
The great parts

The nostalgic, stream-of-consciousness tone of Cline’s writing translates amazingly from book to movie. I can tell he put a lot of thought, time and effort into writing both books, and I can’t wait to read more of his work.

The book and the movie are full of pop culture references. Parzival’s car, the ECTO-88, is a DeLorean Time Machine with a KITT Scanner from Knight Rider installed on the grill and dashboard. The book even includes Ghostbusters logos on the gullwing doors.

Aech, Parzival’s best friend, is building an Iron Giant for a commission in the movie and eventually uses it to fight Mechagodzilla.

A DVD case of the 1999 movie "The Iron Giant" is in the foreground with the actual movie playing on a computer in the background. Under the screen are various LEGO figures including Batman, Spider-Man and multiple Squirtles from Pokemon.
My DVD copy of the Iron Giant (1999) with the movie playing at my desk

There are many more references featured in both the book and the movie, but it would be a separate article to list them all.

Moving onto the actors in the movie: I loved them!

Tye Sheridan, although not a picture perfect version of the overweight and shy version of Wade in the book, portrays Parzival’s nerdy and upbeat persona and Wade’s nerdy shy teen in a unique way.

When I think Halliday, I think Mark Rylance in those giant horn-rimmed glasses. When I think Og, I don’t exactly imagine Simon Pegg, but he plays him well nonetheless, adding his own mature spin to the character.

The members of the High Five are also cast well based on their acting skills. Sho/Shoto played by Philip Zhao, and Daito, played by Win Morisaki, share a brotherly bond despite never meeting in person prior to the events of the movie.

Lena Waithe and Olivia Cooke played their roles as Aech and Art3mis, with great personality and were also cast accurately based on their book descriptions, with great on-screen chemistry with their co-stars.

The not-so-great parts

Although I absolutely love both the book and the movie, I think the only reason I loved the movie is because I watched it first.

There are various differences between the two, including the Egg Hunt trials being almost entirely different. The book also killed off a major character, while the movie kept them alive.

Another issue I had with the movie was the casting of one of the only two female main characters: Lena Waithe as Aech.

Most of Aech’s character was scrapped in the movie because the book is too long. Her backstory is that she poses as a straight white male in the OASIS when in reality, she’s a lesbian woman of colour.

Sure, Lena Waithe is a lesbian, but not everyone knows that.

The Egg Hunt in the book is way longer and more interesting, consisting of three keys and then three gates that must be opened to pass the next test inside.

In the movie, the first key is earned by winning a race through New York. Parzival figures out how to win by going backwards and earns the first key in the movie’s first 30 minutes.

In the book, the first key is found by going through an epic dungeon and then beating a Lich in an arcade game. Art3mis actually discovered this place first, and was still attempting to beat the Lich, when Parzival was able to “main character” his way into beating him first try.

I think Ready Player One and Two would have done better as a TV series, their greatness too detailed to be contained in a movie.

Is it worth reading/watching?
A paperback copy of Ready Player One placed on a hardwood floor. Beneath it but not noticeable is a copy of Ready Player Two.

Absolutely yes! I love this story and the universe it’s set in.

However, if you don’t want to be mad at the book-to-movie differences, I highly recommend watching the movie first. After that, have a good sit down with the book or listen to the audiobook narrated by Wil Wheaton.

Original photos by Azzie de Haviland