Ready Player One

Better than the original that is too broad and targeted both at young people as a genre movie and at nostalgic viewer in their thirties. The film adaptation addresses most of the shortcomings, adjusts the tasks for the screen, understands pop culture and commercial video games, withstands a deliberate and stylized digital mess, does not overuse allusions, but the final footage is to excessive. You never start to care for the characters, and it keeps being silly (especially the solutions of the first and third task, there is no need to dedicate your whole life to that, the racing "glitch" would discover even a troll during the first race and the solution of the last task would be obvious to most players 30+ at first glance). In any case, after a long time, Spielberg is back as an “adult with a soul of a child", so he plays with the format, pace of narration (OASIS versus the real world) and often even in a surprisingly imaginative way work with pop culture (especially setting of the second task, it will make you smile. Generally speaking, these horror allusion are one of the most successful ones ever). The resulting megamix of pop-cultural easter eggs, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matrix, traditionally filmed Amblin movies, Sucker Punch and The Last Action Hero is significantly better than what the trailers made us expect. It's even so good that these few annoying weak moments will be even more disappointing. (03/28/2018)

A very free adaptation of the book by Ernest Cline, updated both for the modern generation and for movie fans. It’s been a long time since Spielberg filmed something so playful and purely for entertainment and his classic trademarks are to be seen throughout. Even if the tasks relating to the keys are totaling different, the core of the story remains the same and it is Mark Rylance’s acting that carries the movie on his shoulders. His Halliday has the perfect parameters of endearing madness and so his classic truths about life don’t sound banal. The message that the Internet isn’t everything isn’t as important as the unbelievable serving of entertainment that a mass of fans enjoy during re-screening and looking for “their" thing. The action is awesome and packed to bursting with references. There is something for everyone (in my case the Godzilla theme), what worked for you? (03/28/2018)

Steven Spielberg took all of this experience from previous movies and put it into this sci-fi novelty Ready Player One. In addition to that, he’s also used all the talent that’s made his career and created a perfect blockbuster movie that anyone must love.Furthermore, he had the audacity to divide the blockbuster into two parts, real-action and an animated one that takes the cake. And then if that wasn’t enough, the animated part turns into reality to prove what kind of genius he is. Hats off! Ready Player One is simply amazing. It beautifully uses 1980s and 1990s themes and Steven’s nailed so many pop-culture references that it’s made me a little melancholic. For example, when he toys around with Kubrick’s The Shining, I was wondering whether he wasn’t overdoing it with his genius. But then again, there isn’t that many genius moments, which made me wonder whether he couldn’t have squeezed a little more out of the 1980s and 1990s. Especially music-wise, this could have been brilliant. Anyways, I get it, he simply filmed it the way he wanted to. For example, the ending had the perfect punch. Mark Rylance might have stolen a good chunk of the movie all for himself, but I didn’t really mind, I’m actually glad that Steven discovered him and even more glad that he cast him. In the Bridge of Spies, he proved to me how great an actor he is. And here he repeated it again without any problems. Splendor. And I hope this is not the last splendor as far as the Spielberg-Rylance collaboration goes. However, it’s not that the other actors don’t deserve any praise – I’ll simply say that they are on the same level as the entire movie. (04/18/2018)

The necessary trimming of a million specific '80s references in film language (even under the guidance of the original author, Ernest Cline) transforms into a million fleeting enchantments, for which everyone must reach out and inevitably contemplate how many of them they couldn't even catch. And it's good, because blindly following a cult template would be a path to hell. Therefore, the challenges are more action-packed, straightforward, inevitably easier, and, first and foremost, easier to find. The entrances to the paths to individual keys are more about luck and intuition than encyclopedic knowledge, but after watching it for a few days, even that doesn't bother me anymore, despite such a change taking away some of Parzival's nerdiness. Similarly, the casting of Olivia Cooke takes away from Art3mis that desirable curviness (the dreamy hottie from the original remains far from the gates of adaptation) and replaces it with a girl named Samantha, but given her talent, which surpasses the rest of the youth by a bit, I almost understand this decision. And the cherry on top? Mark Rylance. Every smile, solemnity, and wink creates an immensely touching combination of life disappointments and boyish efforts. Steven Spielberg becomes the king at least once again. Nobody could have expected the transformation of a cult geekgasm into a loving celebration of human relationships. (04/04/2018)

After a long time, I found myself in the cinema almost not breathing. Spielberg, on the other hand, ventilates like a young man. What could have ended up as a storehouse of nostalgia and a pile of fan references turns, in his hands, into a frenetic, yet completely clear and systematically arranged blockbuster, which does not lack steam, emotion, pop culture, but mainly something through and through the present. The way in which Spielberg is able to naturally wedge digital avatars into the monument to his filmmaking generation (The Shining bike ride) is the best evidence that he has not lost any of his relevance over the decades. He is able to look back whilst standing firmly in the present. RPO is not a whimsical dream about the golden age of Easter eggs - it is a radiant rocket which, through its penetration, leaves behind filmmakers who are a generation younger. Yeah, I'd maybe trim it a little bit, but otherwise it is a clean and crystal-fun ride. Reality may be the best, but I always like to be fed stuff like this. (04/03/2018)