READY PLAYER ONE (12A)
IN 2045, mankind unites in a virtual space called the Oasis.
In this fantastical realm, accessed via headsets and gloves, everyone can indulge their whims, such as climbing Mount Everest in the company of Batman.
Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) lives in a trailer park with his aunt and her brutish fella. The teen sneaks off to a scrapyard hideaway and journeys through the Oasis in the guise of his avatar Parzival, trading banter with fellow players including Art3mis (Olivia Cooke), Aech (Lena Waithe) and Daito (Win Morisaki).
They are hunting three fabled keys, which James Halliday (Mark Rylance), co-creator of the Oasis, concealed before his death.
The first person to solve the puzzles that protect these keys will be granted ownership of the game.
The quest pits Wade and co against Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), Machiavellian chief executive of Innovative Online Industries, who intends to seize control of the Oasis by fair means or foul.
Ready Player One begs and pleads for repeat viewings to spot myriad pop culture references. Sheridan and Cooke are an appealing pairing but don’t share enough real world screen time to turn up the heat on their characters’ romance.
“She’s hacking your heart to get to your head,” Wade is warned.
Steven Spielberg’s film attempts to go the same route with us via a dizzying blitzkrieg of Eighties and Nineties nostalgia, but ultimately falls short.