Ready Player One was beset by the hopes of a lot of people right out of the gate. For the many fans of the much beloved 80’s pop-culture nostalgia adventure novel, this would be a film adaptation previously thought impossible due to she sheer magnitude of things referenced and the logistical nightmare of obtaining film licences for them all, and even then, certainly not without caveats.

Caveats, it would turn out, came aplenty. Ready Player One has strayed far enough from it’s source text to the point where the term ‘adaptation’ would be better replaced with ‘inspired by’. The hallowed reverence for 80’s paraphernalia is gone and has been replaced by generic ‘up to date’ pop culture. Purists will not have a good time. As a standalone film, Ready Player One is for the most part, pretty fun. The movie is visually spectacular, and there are plenty of little easter eggs hidden in plain sight. Pacing and writing suffer a bit, with some elements of the plot (grief, romance) moving by a bit too quickly to be of real impact. The Spielberg magic is very barely present throughout the film, but makes a big showing in the film’s conclusion, in a surprisingly successful attempt to end of a soulful note. Overall, Ready Player One is good enough to be a decent tv-movie watch, but unfortunately not good enough to leave much of a lasting impact.