4.5 stars out of 5
I don’t often seek out the 3D versions of movies, but when I read a must-see-it-this-way write-up on that site that always appears when you Google “Should I see [movie] in 3D?”, I made it my mission to don the glasses. And thus found myself in the Edgewater Multiplex’s xPlus theater (ooh, nice seats!) at 11:25 a.m. last Wednesday.
I loved this freaking movie, and I highly recommend 3D on the biggest screen you can find. This is not a film to watch on your phone.
We’ve seen a lot of Spielberg-inspired work in recent years, but if we learn anything from this movie, it’s that Steven Spielberg does Spielberg better than anyone else. This is like no other movie I’ve seen before, and arriving so deep into the director’s career, that’s pretty impressive.
Story-wise, it’s 2045 and the world sucks. People live in dingy trailers stacked on top of each other (visually, I was reminded of District 9) and their only escape is into the virtual reality known as The Oasis. The VR’s late designer James Halliday (the great Mark Rylance, unrecognizable) built in Easter eggs that everyone is trying to find, as the winner will take over The Oasis.
This set-up allows us, via the teenager Wade (a solid Tye Sheridan) and his avatar Parzival, to enter The Oasis, and oh my god do things get wild. Halliday was obsessed with ’80s pop culture (with a little ’70s and ’90s sprinkled in for good measure), and this is right in Spielberg’s wheelhouse. I won’t spoil the various sightings, because spotting them is half the fun, but the director throws absolutely everything at us, nonstop, to a well-chosen ’80s soundtrack — even the rare-ish Springsteen track “Stand On It.” A race scene is so immersive, I actually felt my seat shaking. The only thing I can compare it to was the big-screen Speed Racer, which had excellent effects.
Why yes, there is a human side to the movie. Wade/Parzival falls for cool avatar girl Art3mis and wants to meet her in the real world. She is hesitant, building on one of the movie’s concepts that we can be whoever we want to be (taller, stronger, faster, etc.) in the virtual world. And this is one thing I really didn’t buy — real-world Samantha/Art3mis, despite a slight birthmark over one eye, is every nerd’s super-crush. Not the slightest bit unattractive. Oh well, that’s Hollywood for you. Regardless, Olivia Cooke as Samantha absolutely redeems herself from the recent Thoroughbreds; I think she needs to stick to likable characters for the time being.
There’s a stock corporate weasel bad guy (Ben Mendelsohn, enjoying himself). He is this movie’s Neidermeyer, also trying to win The Oasis so he can fill it with advertising (boo!), and I liked rooting against him.
The film nicely balances action in the virtual and real worlds. Things slow down a little later on but the pace picks up big time as we hurtle toward a very satisfying conclusion. In the home stretch, Spielberg does his thing, showing us diversity without hitting us over the head with it, and that our similarities are more important than our differences. Ultimately it’s about the importance of friendship and teamwork, as the story takes on a pleasing Capra-esque dimension (the script even tips its cap to the master). But go for the fun. You’ll often hear the phrase “a thrill ride of a movie,” but this truly is one.
I saw the movie in IMAX and am glad I did. The only thing I was disappointed in was not finding out how the world had deteriorated so much and what had led to the profusion of “the stacks.” I am told I should read the book for that. I decided the first time I saw a trailer for this movie I wanted to see it in IMAX the first weekend it came out, but that was on the strength of “how did everyone end up living in those things? Why is Columbus Ohio the fastest growing city in the world?” (Even if they get Amazon HQ2 it is not going to result in that kind of boost for them.) So I was somewhat disappointed about that not being developed more. I would have given it a 4 but don’t quibble with your 4.5.