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Ready Player One  (DVD)

5/10

Stars: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Mark Rylance, T.J. Miller, Simon Pegg, Lena Waithe, Win Morisaki, Philip Zhao, Susan Lynch, Hannah John-Kamen, Ralph Ineson, McKenna Grace, Letitia Wright.

Director: Steven Spielberg

Here Spielberg sensibly selected two editors (Sarah Broshar, Michael Kahn) to ensure that the narrative line of his inescapably special effects-driven version of Ernest Cline's best-selling novel makes sense and isn't overwhelmed by Oscar-worthy movie magic.

The year is 2045, the location Columbus, the world’s fastest-growing city, and all over the world people escape their harsh lives by escaping to the immersive virtual universe the OASIS where they can do anything or everything they want.

There teenager Nade Watts (Tye Sheridan) finds happiness and ease, limited only by his imagination - and sets out on an amazing virtual adventure when he embarks on a 'reality-bending' treasure hunt through OASIS to win a three-part contest created by OASIS inventor Halliday (Mark Rylance, excellent) who, we are informed, 'hated making rules'.

Unsurprisingly, Ben Mendelsohn, first-rate as OASIS's evil boss, is determined that Nade should bite the dust rather than live to crack the eggs...

Gamers will have a ball watching the tsunami of avatars and game/movie references that infest the narrative.

Alan Frank

USA 2018. UK Distributor: Warner Brothers. Colour.
134 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 12A.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 0, Swearing 1.

Review date: 09 Aug 2018