Hot Take: Book vs. Film - Ready Player One
(and being a total nerd)
*Spoilers for Ready Player One, both film and book, ahead*
HOT TAKE:
Ready Player One, the movie is better than Ready Player One, the novel.
Now, now, before you book-nerds grab your torches and pitchforks, HEAR ME OUT.
Up until the film's March 29th release, I not only had no desire to see the film. I was turned completely off by all the trailers' attempts to get me all giddy about nostalgia (and for the record, I'm a total sucker for nostalgia). The film's seemingly mishmash of Spielberg references crammed into a two-hour wank to the past, as directed by Spielberg himself, felt like it was going to be a little TOO meta for my taste. Needless to say, I can't say no to Spielberg and without his name attached I don't know if I would have ever ventured into the Oasis of a movie this silly at all. And yet, I was impressed that the film turned out to be far better than its trailers led on.
Although some of it is just downright silly.
GRANTED, RPO as both a film and a book is geared completely towards one target audience: Nerds.
Not necessarily folks who understand all the story's literal Easter eggs of pop culture references, but the people who live and breathe geek culture. Even with the very realistic VR future of everyone literally living online, the entire catalyst of the story is entirely grounded in a plethora of useless knowledge; characters memorizing hours and months and years' worth of references to "this movie" and "that video game," in order to succeed their tasks. All these tiny little nods indeed allow the audience to feel special when they can connect to a name-drop of some obscure piece of pop culture, but therein also lies both the film's, but especially the book's biggest weakness: The story relies more on references than relatable characters.
To be fair, I had no desire to ever even pick up the book but after hearing how different all the readers claimed the movie was, my interest peaked. I definitely did it backwards but it was also pretty eye-opening to indeed see how different the source material was to Spielberg's vision. I picked up the book while waiting for an oil change at a Walmart a few days after the movie's release. I used the McDonald's section as my library, and blew through nearly 100 pages. For a movie I wasn't blown away by, I was compelled to keep reading the pages. And yet as I trucked on, I felt a sort of static dissatisfaction with Ernest Cline's novel that never really deflated.
Like the characters who put on the choreographed dance sequence to the 'Electric Slide'
(Instantly would have been a better movie)
Every few pages I would catch something in the book that was interpreted in the film, even if Spielberg has used the material in such a minuscule, totally different way and then I realized how I felt about the movie. I gave the film another watch and after having knowledge of both the film and the book, the second viewing felt much more as if Spielberg had ended up using Cline's novel as guidelines; cliff notes to his tightly structured film that whizzes by at just two hours and nineteen minutes. By normal book-to-screen adaptations, this sounds like it would be sacrilege to the book but Spielberg just allows the story to breathe better.
One of the primary similarities between the two formats of the story is that the protagonist of Wade (Oasis user: the notorious 'Parzival') is a lonely, cocky nerd who uses his geek knowledge to do literally everything. His mind of obscure references to pop culture that Halliday admired is what ultimately earns him eternal glory.
It's basically a geeky, white-American Slumdog Millionaire.
THINK ABOUT IT.
Granted, we're rooting for Wade the entire time as he resonates with the nerd in all of us, but it's also the obscurity of Halliday's oddly specific references that sort of lose the audience.
While I do consider myself an average nerd in many degrees, I found myself very lost reading the book, amidst Wade's ramblings about all the different video games and TV shows from the 80s. Granted I wasn't alive during the booming 1980s birth of techno-retro-punk culture but some of the nods to the lost decade are SO oddly specific that the words jump off the pages as if they'd lose just about anyone. The entire thing comes off as if it's all from Ernest Cline's perspective; as if Cline himself is James Halliday. Normally I wouldn't complain about this sorta thing, as the moral is more or less how being a nerd can have its advantages, but Cline takes so much of the focus away from Wade's journey to dwell in his deep explanations of the Halliday references; all of which he's memorized by heart.
This is where Spielberg comes in. While some readers no doubt will be shocked and disheartened by Spielberg not just giving the ax to the first two Egg challenges, but completely removing Wade's high school story line, as well as the mid-section where Wade starts a new life in a runaway apartment under a new identity (when he has a quarter-life crisis and experiments with sex dolls and an online brothel - Fun times), others will be delighted with just how much so Spielberg tightens the relationships between the "High Five," Parzival (Z), Aech (H), Art3mis (Samantha), Daito and Shoto, notably the first three characters.
Giving VR sexuality entirely new meaning.
In the book, it's Wade who near the third act is intentionally arrested, captured and placed in high-secure confinement from IOI. While this is good and fine in terms of it all being part of Wade's grand master plan, the film instead uses Art3mis as the victim of capture and torture from IOI. And while all will agree that Wade and Samantha's relationship is blossomed all too quick and far too early in the film, this plot change makes for a DRASTIC shift in tone for the motivation of Wade and the relationship he literally fights for in order to rescue Arty from her dire fate (HOW PRECIOUS). Granted, most readers will most likely shake their fists with fury as Spielberg trades Wade and Samantha's famous meet-and-greet from the very end of the book, to not even halfway through the film, before they even reach the second key.
But if you look at the IOI capture-confinement story line, it just makes more sense for Wade to want to save Samantha, a living human being, having a glimpse as to who she really is, rather than fight for the virtual world everyone lives in.
And who is Samantha? A "hideous" girl with a disgusting birth mark?
Really? Are folks that shallow?
I mean. Her totally hot avatar is actually MUCH hotter in person.
*5 points to Olivia Cooke*
Not only that, Samantha ends up being somewhat of a BADass in the film. While the Art3mis character has cool moments in the book, Samantha is even more of a hero than Wade in the film. Hell, she's the one who learns to disable the Orb of Osuvox.
MOVIE: 1
BOOK: 0
That said, a couple other notable changes from the book I will defend on Cline's behalf; One being the characters all living in different states/countries, as well as the death of Daito; these changes being not only more realistic but necessary to the overall themes as to how much of a threat Sorrento and the real world are. If there's one thing the movie constantly drops the ball at, it's at showing how terrifying the real world truly is for these dystopian characters.
Also in the book, Daito being killed by IOI in the real world is devastating, and when Aech is revealed to be a lesbian black chick, her arc and backstory has MUCH more of an impact than her reveal in the film.
MOVIE 1
BOOK: 1
That said, Lena Waithe is a doll and she makes Aech the best character in the story. Fans will probably be thrown off as to the film depicting her avatar as a male gargoyle, rather than just a regular beefed up man, but the character is still the most enjoyable.
But while we're on the subject of Sorrento, I will say one of the book's biggest faults by a long shot is that the dude was barely even IN IT. Granted, Ben Mendelson played the one-dimensional cartoon character of a villain in the film to the best of his ability but at least he had some leg work. The character of Sorrento appears in the film MULTIPLE times to prove his menacing persona. He's established even if he is a cardboard cut-out of a character. Do you know how many times Sorrento appears in the book? TWICE.
For the book-lovers, I'm not talking about moments he's mentioned, I'm referring to actual scenes related to Sorrento. There's the meeting he has with Wade, when he makes him an offer just before blowing up the Stacks (the film captures this moment almost pitch perfectly), but other than that Sorrento literally only shows up at the very end when he becomes Mecha-Godzilla. And then he's never seen AGAIN.
Now, I understand the book is entirely from Parzival's perspective so outside of his meeting, and the final battle, Sorrento is only mentioned because he doesn't personally interact with Wade aside from those moments, but aside from the narrator (Parzival), Sorrento is never once truly fleshed out. Again, this is another major reason the film trumps the book. If there's one threat to these characters, even one as silly and cartoonish as Sorrento, the film establishes the big-bad MUCH better. Also, Mendelson is great and he seems like he's having a blast with the role.
Even if he is being typecast as the useless villain, yet again.
Key note in difference between source material:
The scene in the film where Z and Daito hijack Sorrento's chair and make him believe he's in the real world, so they can foil his plan? Not in the book. At all.
MOVIE: 2
BOOK: 1
As for all the references, many book-nerds seem to be upset that Spielberg went a more mainstream route to feed the audience their geek pop culture, but to be fair (and this is kinda my point) it’s the more relatable aspect that keeps the story much stronger in the film rather than the book, even if the references are often too much of a cop out.
For starters, the big race for the Copper key? The one that’s solved before the twenty-nine minute mark of the film? Not in the book even a little bit. That said, the first challenge is remarkably rushed and it does give way to much more traditional, classic references whether they be the T-Rex from Jurassic Park, the Akira bike, or King Kong himself. It’s all a familiar pallet cleanser, even if it is a bit eye-rolling.
Yeah, none of this chaotic shit is in the book.
In the book, the first challenge was a complex Dungeons & Dragons tomb that led to an obscure arcade game. These references are special, no doubt, for the few folks who will catch them, but were they depicted exactly as the book it would lose most moviegoers because they'd have to suspend their disbelief in not knowing the references. So in this case, Spielberg sorta had to go more mainstream in order to hook his audience.
Even with the dance sequence, of course most people would have picked up on the book's use of Billy Idol's Rebel Yell, but everyone knows Bee Gees' Stayin' Alive. I'm not saying it's not a cop-out to go with the more well-known reference, but again this is a story designed to reach BROAD amounts of nerds, or in the film's case broad amounts of people who exist among common pop culture.
The book's second challenge is even harder to describe to non-readers. Granted, the text-adventure game Zork that leads to the Jade key is obscure but not only will moviegoers simply know The Shining tenfold, but the Overlook Hotel scene is arguably the highlight of the entire film, if for only for the fact that it’s the only pop culture reference that’s truly explored.
Most impressively, it's probably the most glaring change as this isn't in the book at ALL.
Undoubtedly, That ‘Shining’ bit was off the chain, and it's bound to make any cinephile smile with absolute joy.
MOVIE: 3
BOOK: 1
That said, the book has a whole chapter dedicated to the band RUSH that exists within a replicated Blade Runner planet. Fans of both Rush and Blade Runner were probably ecstatic reading this section and were most likely devastated by its exclusion from the film.
MOVIE: 3
BOOK: 2
But the battle for the Oasis in the end? Sure, the book contains some more giant robot anime characters unbeknownst to most audiences, but even then the film STILL manages to have an abundantly more exciting climax than the book. While the book has great moments between Sorrento’s Mecha-Godzilla vs. Wade as Ultraman, the fight deflates with the other characters. Wherein the film, you can’t help but get giddy over everything that’s happening on screen. Whether it be The Iron Giant parading the hundreds of nerd-pop characters into battle against the Sixers; The Ninja Turtles, Mecha-Gundam, the UNSC soldiers from Halo, and f**king Chucky, or whether it just be a more action-packed scene overall, the tone is more exciting and just works better in the film.
*10 points to the Iron Giant with laser vision*
MOVIE: 4
BOOK: 2
Look. We could sit here all day and point out what makes the film "cooler" than the book, but the important piece here is the tone in story and character. Spielberg keeps the pace of the film tight, and after having read the book, I didn’t realize just how tight he kept things.
Granted, Cline himself was on set during filming to help guide the story but as I said, Spielberg almost uses Cline’s novel as a guideline to do his own thing and honestly, all commentary on the film by itself aside, the whole thing is just smoother and clicks together much better in the film. Whether it be a name-drop reference to the character of Ir0k (who in the book is a dick-poser schoolmate of Z and H, and in the film is traded for an evil, dark overlord-looking dude who’s comically voiced by TJ Miller), or meshing together moments from the novel to help a scene transition, it's far more digestible in the movie. Granted the film definitely shoots for more off-beat kid-friendly humor, this is also KIND of a story that should appeal to kids as much as, if not more so than adults.
The book has a jarring middle-ground. It’s got a PG tone but contains profanity and (very few) sexual references but it's also supposed to be more akin with pre-PG-13 Spielberg movies. These "adult" tendencies don’t hinder the story but some of the book definitely questions who Cline’s target audience is, while Spielberg’s PG-13 rating resolves the whole thing. As Spielberg can do like no one else, he truly does provide a story that can appeal to anyone. Sure, it's a "family film," but it also has this classic sense of adventure that's VERY absent from movies today. Yet with Cline, Spielberg provides a story that's both very looking towards the future, while being a complete wank to the past.
It's one of the most Spielbergian Spielberg movies Spielberg's ever made.
As for icing on the cake, not even with how tight Spielberg keeps the pacing, he also just builds and constructs the world of the Oasis in stunning detail. For not collaborating with John Williams for the first time in like two decades, his work with composer Alan Silvestri is both nostalgic and flat-out creative. For being a Spielberg movie that makes nods to Spielberg movies, Silvestri produces even just a few notes that are reminiscent of E.T., Close Encounters, and Back to the Future. It literally SOUNDS like Williams but instead of being a carbon-copy, it's a very influenced piece of original music that sounds like it's ripped right from the 1980s.
The amount of detail in the film alone is overwhelming. Granted, much of the internet has spent the last month scrambling to unearth every reference to anything ever made, the film is packed out with countless numbers of clues and literal Easter eggs that the audience will pick up on with every viewing (and for the nerds, this is one that will demand multiple viewings).
But this was never story about references. This is a story about nerds and that's the biggest depiction of RPO as a film rather than a novel. Sure the book is definitely "nerdier" if only because it's filled cover to cover with hundreds of nods to old-ass video games you've never heard of but the pages of specifics don't make up for the fact that we never really resonate with Z, Aech and Art3mis as a clique of characters and in the end, the story doesn't work without the characters. So in a sense, Spielberg axing all the references and trading them for tighter character development is forgiven.
Again, this isn’t about grabbing straws at every detail and reference dropped between film and book but when it comes to pacing, story, and character, having experienced both formats, I can confidently say the film is just better. Even if it's weak for Spielberg, it's charming AF.
On second thought, isn't the whole moral at the end of the story, "we should get outside in the real world more often"? Even though the real world has become dystopian and is crumbling at rapid pace before our very eyes? Are we to believe that these kids are going to save the planet by shutting down the Oasis for two days a week? You think that's gonna stop the economy from collapsing upon itself?
FASLE MORAL OF THE DAY:
Staying cooped up inside for your entire life, playing video games, and being a nerd will keep you fit, will get you the girl, and you'll become a billionaire.
I think I missed the point of the story. Whatever.
*Turns on video game system - Plays for sixteen hours straight*
This is literally the future.
