THE BOX 10 OFFICE TOP
(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 Alice (Susan Lynch) and her brutish fella (Ralph Ineson). The teenager sneaks off to his scrapyard hideaway where he journeys through the Oasis in the guise of his avatar Parzival and trades banter with fellow players Art3mis (Olivia Cooke), Aech (Lena Waithe), Daito (Win Morisaki) and Sho (Philip Zhao).
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 – preferably – 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.
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6. Peter Rabbit Pacific Rim Uprising Tomb Raider Black Panther A Wrinkle In Time The Greatest Showman
7. Unsane
8. Red Sparrow
9. Game Night
10. Sajjan Singh Rangroot
CHART COURTESY OF CINEWORLD