The year is 2045 and the world that we know has gone to shit. People are broke, living conditions have gone down, and people are looking for an escape from the day to day realities. The OASIS is that escape. A virtual reality universe where people can escape and become anyone they want. Before the death of creator James Halliday (Mark Rylance), Halliday created three challenges in which the winner would be awarded an easter egg and the ownership of the OASIS. Such a prize sets the world on fire as everyone is competing to be the winner. Young and unlikely contestant Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) does his best to win the contest, gaining love and friendship along the way.

Throughout the entire lead-up to the movie’s release, we were skeptical. The reason being is that often times movies like this are so visually stunning, that the story falls by the wayside. Ready Player One didn’t fall into that pit. Although the story was not absolutely amazing, it was good enough to make Ready Player One a good movie.

The storyline is relatively simple for the most part… you win the contest you win the OASIS. As anyone who has ever watched a movie could have guessed, there is going to be some ‘evil’ that tries to hinder the main character’s ability to succeed. In that sense, there is nothing special about the story. However, there is something special in the mystery behind the creator, James Halliday. The movie does a great job of slowly peeling back layers and layers, without giving too much away at one time. Another special part that will have you in a state of nostalgia is all of pop culture references. At ‘J Shot or Not?’ we’re not that old and it was still a fun and refreshing walk down memory lane.

We do have some criticisms. More OASIS, less real world. Now, one has to exist to make sense for the other and the real world is a great carrier for the OASIS. However, there wasn’t enough in the real world scenes. Things moved extremely fast in the real world leaving you not really giving a shit about some of the characters. The only other real criticism revolves around the humor. The jokes were often hit or miss. Some will have you laughing out loud while others make you roll your eyes.

Part of the blame is the acting itself. There was some poor acting, a good amount of average acting, and one really good acting job. We are not trying to be dicks by saying this, but one of the younger actors was pretty bad. His dialogue and emotion was so forced that you were waiting for him to get off the screen. Now, he didn’t have enough screen time to have a serious effect on the movie, but it was long enough to be noted. Main character Wade Watts was portrayed by Tye Sheridan. One of the biggest supporting roles Samantha was portrayed by Olivia Cooke. It’s a tossup on which acting job was better, but both were average. There was a great acting job and it’s no surprise who it came from… Mark Rylance. As mentioned above, Rylance played creator of the OASIS, James Halliday. From the stutter to the lack of emotional and social competence, Rylance nailed the character.

Visually… I mean, should we skip this part? You can probably guess how it is visually. It’s OUT OF THIS WORLD! We saw a recommendation that one should see this movie on the biggest screen possible and it’s as good of advice as don’t get in a strangers van. The worlds are amazing, vibrant with color and flooding with action. The characters and avatars range from a slightly distorted human to a completely creative creature. The OASIS ranges from very small settings to massive landscapes. The visuals alone make the movie worth seeing… twice. They are truly that amazing.

Ready Player One is a high-paced, visually trilling movie. What slow parts exist in the real world will be quickly erased from your memory in the OASIS. Take a fun trip down memory lane in get lost in the visual imagination of Spielberg.

Rating: Boner Patrol!