Cool Characters Rule the World of Ready Player One

“All special effects must serve the story”, says Spielberg, and goes on to worship the story’s king: character. They are such a big part of storytelling, each one of them here is doubled with an avatar. Avatars help them break free of reality’s shackles and become true to their dreams.

The Adventures of Tintin might have been deeper, but this one is more humble. Here honest Spielberg doesn’t turn attention to the direction – or when he does, everything is edited so fast you have no time to process the technique and all that’s left are the heroes. They are the reasons we play games or look for the best possible version of ourselves. Ready Player One’s fireworks aren’t things like impossibly long tracking shots, but simply giving screen life/time to beloved characters from popular films and video games. In the climactic battle, when uber-powerful [spoiler] fights beloved [spoiler], that is all we need. Obsessed with maximizing the effect of storytelling, Spielberg recognizes and bows down – like so many of his past movies – before the idea of the character itself. The archetypical spunky girl, the charming prince, the human-machine hybrid, Tracer, Chun-Li, Lara Croft and The Iron Giant are the focus of popular entertainment, because we love them. The author recognizes the emotional investment into fiction and how there is no difference between fictional and real affection.

Ready Player One (2018), Warner Bros.

Great characters are the best thing about this extravaganza, the actual expensive property and game currency. Upon dying, they turn into coins, or pure value. It is a gift to be able to come up with interesting characters and this is gold in any narrative work of art. Games bring us even closer to them, because we have control. Naturally, there is the question of what to do with this control. The ultimate answer is to rein in your single-minded ambition and connect with others, because one person acting alone is the worst mistake they can make. This is either a humanist triumph or a sophisticated cynical promotion of MMOs.

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While the escapist Ready Player One isn’t as strong a dissection of cyber culture as the Paradigm game, it doesn’t skimp on important issues. All the grammatically-challenged nicknames show people striving to go beyond normal conventions and try to be different and more themselves than conformists. And inevitably, they find soulmates. Online communication is much more than male predators, says Subversive Steve.

Sure, games can be a waste of time, but that doesn’t stop talented filmmakers from recognizing their unlimited creativity. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World has already proven that the imagination involved in creating or interacting with virtual worlds expands the minds of this generation. And helps them dream up things not possible in the good old physical dimension. Nowadays, it is silly and meaningless to separate the real from the virtual world. Cyberspace controls your bank savings and helps your fridge stock up on supplies. The point is clear: human evolution means responsible and heartfelt usage of any tools at our disposal. Trees and mountains are nice, but colorful hairdos and clothes are cooler.