On-Demand had this available for One Dollar last night, so my wife and I decided to check it out.
Context note: Neither of us have read the book.
My wife gave it 4 out of 10 for the movie, 10 out of 10 for the soundtrack LOL.
I generously give it 6 out of 10, mostly for the Shining sequence (though I understand this replaced the Blade Runner subplot from the book???) and seeing the Iron Giant battle Mecha-Godzilla.
I was surprised how at how
uninvested I felt through out this movie. I am almost 50, a worshipper of most of the pop culture referenced in this flick, and figured this movie would be be my absolute jam....
...but ...
and maybe I am totally over thinking this... but I could not accept the basic premise as a positive one and therefore, did not feel supportive of our heroes quest.
I mean, at it's core, is this not about maintaining an addicted society?
We all have sucky moments in life and love to escape to fantasy for a while before returning to the Real World. That is normal and relatable.
But this takes it to whole another level. This is the difference between taking an occasional pain pill for a backache and shooting up on heroin every day.
This appears to be a society that has totally given up on the real life, given up on trying to make things or themselves better in the real world. People are walking down the street in VR suits and Helmets!!!! And our heroes big epic quest is to keep this fantasy world going?
Yes, there is some ham fisted after school lesson at the end that Real Life is more important which feels completely unearned, which leads our heroes to decide to turn off the OASIS for a TWO WHOLE DAYS every week....
really? :dodgy:
I think the premise could have worked if Spielberg had spent some time actually showing us and explaining to us the cruelty/harshness of the world of 2045 America, and trying to give some justifiable reason why people have just given up. Or treated the material as a dark comedy satirizing our need for escapism. But this key element is fundamentally underdeveloped to the detriment of the narrative. I don't even know what our hero Wade does in the real world... is he a student? Does he have a job? I am not even clear how old he is suppose to be?
Also, there is not any real risk to our heroes. It is not like if they die in the OASIS they die in real life. They just reboot their Avatar and off they go again. So the stakes never truly feel real.
While I agree with many that Spielberg is probably the only person in Hollywood powerful enough to get this film made, I am not certain he was the best director for the project. As he seemed unable or unwilling to recapture his own classic 80's film style, thus as an love letter to that time period it does not truly work. And the movie is not satirical enough to make the basic premise believable or worth rooting for....
For me, it was a movie where the parts are better than the whole. A fun idea that needed better execution. :blush: