Warner Bros. has released a new Ready Player One TV spot, and it has me returning to my mantra about the film, “Trust in Spielberg.” That’s not to say that director Steven Spielberg has never made a bad movie, but if he hasn’t earned the benefit of the doubt, then no one has. The question that I keep coming back to with Ready Player One is it just a nonstop celebration of IP, or does it actually critique our interest and unquestioning devotion to IP.
Sadly, in this TV spot, it looks like the former as Percival (the avatar of human Wade Watts) proudly proclaims you can “climb Mt. Everest with Batman!” before we get a list of beloved characters including the Iron Giant, Lex Luthor, Chucky, and Kong while A-ha’s “Take on Me” plays in the background. It seems like mindless celebration where every character is divorced from what makes them special. If you just throw them all together, they become devoid of context and then it’s just a celebration of things and nostalgia. That could make for a grueling experience. But I trust in Spielberg.
Check out the new Ready Player One TV spot below. The film stars Tye Sheridan, Ben Mendelsohn, T.J. Miller, Simon Pegg, Mark Rylance, and Olivia Cooke.
Here’s the official synopsis for Ready Player One:
The film is set in 2045, with the real world on the brink of chaos and collapse. But people have found salvation in the OASIS, an immersive virtual universe where you can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone. The OASIS was created by the brilliant and eccentric James Halliday (Mark Rylance). When Halliday died, he left his immense fortune, and total control of the OASIS, to the first person to win three keys, unlocking the door to a digital Easter egg he hid somewhere in his seemingly infinite creation. His challenge launched a game that gripped the entire world, but after five years the scoreboard remained tauntingly empty...until now.
An unlikely young hero named Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan)—under his avatar name, Parzival—finally conquers the first contest, instantly becoming a celebrity...and a target. Ruthless corporate mogul Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn) proves he will stop at nothing to beat Wade and take over the OASIS, and suddenly the virtual stakes are all-too-real. Ultimately realizing he cannot win alone, Wade joins forces with his friends—now the High Five (Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Lena Waithe, Philip Zhao, Win Morisaki). Together, they are hurled into a reality-bending treasure hunt through a fantastical universe of discovery and danger to save the OASIS.
