Can you imagine watching this if you didn't give a fuck about the '80s? Like there's nothing that happens in Ready Player One that isn't a reference to something at least, but almost all of them are '80s references. I mean I worship at the altar of 1980s' references on a daily basis, and even for me this was only so-so, I fear to imagine what Ready Player One might be like for someone who actually demands originality.
Honestly, it was better than I was expecting, I'll front to that. The promotional campaign for this had the barometer for my excitement on this at a firm zero, and by the time I had finished watching it I was surprised to find I had actually enjoyed multiple things about it, but Ready Player One is an exercise in lack of subtlety, and really tries your limits on suspension of disbelief. Not because of the fantastical endless virtual world inhabited by near every creation since the dawn of pop-culture, but because of the character interactions in their "real world".
Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole.