When it comes to exposition, the newest trailer for Ready Player One has a lot of it. In it, we are once again introduced to Wade Watts. A teenager who lives in a poverty-stricken trailer park called “The Stack” in Columbus, Ohio in the year 2045. A teenager who wants to escape his energy crisis-riddled world and live life in the Oasis.
Which Watts describes in the trailer as “A whole virtual universe,” Watts continues, “People come for the things they can do, but they stay because of all the things they can be”. Which in today’s world is similar to how people perceive both video games and social media. Within Ready Player One‘s theme of escapism is its main story centering around the death of James Halliday.
Related – New READY PLAYER ONE Poster Released
Halliday is the creator of the Oasis, and via message announces whoever can find the Easter Egg he created will not only receive his fortune they will be in control of the Oasis. This, of course, leads to a corporation called Innovative Online Industries (IOI) wanting to take control of the virtual world. As its people plan on monetizing the experience once taking control, and destroying anyone who gets in their way. But as the trailer shows, Wade and others form a rebellion to combat the corporation and Nolan Sorrento.
The Head of Operations for the corporation. But within the action and nostalgia, there are some things within the trailer that are worrisome. Starting with the movie’s use of nostalgia. Seeing many famous pop culture icons is great, and in this case are digital avatars and vehicles.
But when dealing with these things it becomes easy to pander to the audience with tons of “Remember this” moments. Causing the story to take a backseat. Seeing the DeLorean being used to race people, and Tracer and Chun-Li run into battle is great. But their introductions should only be made once.
After that, they should just be characters who happen to be those icons and drive the story and narrative. Same goes for the movie’s soundtrack. Don’t try to sell one, utilize Halliday’s love for the eighties in the book to place songs in situations where they best fit. There are big positives in the trailer too.
As mentioned earlier the message of escapism and creating a character not fully reflective of who we are is important. It is something that can give the movie heart and can be the underlying message in the plot. Yes whoever finds the egg first wins. But does winning mean the person is okay with possibly killing their true selves to stay something they’re not?
At what cost is someone okay with the extinction of themselves in the real world in favor of an identity that is complete fiction? This would provide an excellent inner-conflict for a character like Wade and other protagonists in the movie. Another positive is the characters within the Oasis are all digital. There is no uncanny valley to go through, as the fully-digital concepts completely distinguish virtual from reality.
Ready Player One is based on Ernest Cline’s 2011 science-fiction novel. Steven Spielberg‘s film adaptation stars Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, and Ben Mendelsohn. It will hit theaters on March 30, 2018. Watch the new trailer below!
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