Ready: Player One

[lhb412]

All I know about the book is that, at least in some of the excerpts I read, the main character comes across as a refugee from the Eltingville Club.

*shudders*

Anywho, saw an article on io9 where they laid out which properties they could and couldn't get, and the lack of Ultraman was due to the lawsuit. Spielberg himself wanted Ultraman but couldn't get him!

[Specium Ray]

I have no problem with people enjoying nostalgia for it's own sake, and while I have issues with the book, I will probably go to see this movie for the sheer spectacle of it. But there are two things that really nagged at me when (I tried) to read it.

He drives a DeLorean, it had the Oscillation Overthruster, gets the Beta Capsule, fights Kiryu, etc etc, all stuff I love. These references are rattled off like a grocery list, but there is no insight into why he likes them, what makes them cool, why they are appropriate for whatever scene. I was so psyched when I heard Ultraman was in this, and skipped directly to the relevant chapter and it was just... there. It could have be Iron Giant, or an original creation. It could have just said "He turned into a red and silver giant". The references don't serve the narrative, or give any insight into the characters or even tell you why the author thinks they are cool; a tasty treat but without substance. The book is the literary equivalent of eating cake frosting right of the can. Which, like, I do sometimes, not being judgmental, but at the same time I don't tell myself it's hummus when I do it.

The other thing is the setting, and this might just be because I am a parent, but the idea that my grandkids would be living in this dystopian future and not trying to change it, not engage with their world in any meaningful way, but strapped into a VR helmet, studying the minutia of my childhood instead of living one of their own is just depressing. That's not an escape, it's a prison. I grew up reading superhero comics, and at some point in the late 90s the Baby Boomers came in and decided that their versions of the superheroes were more relevant than the versions I had as a kid and this is like the same thing but for the entirety of all pop culture. Every generation deserves their own heroes, not a rehash of their parents and grandparents.

[jellydonut25]

[mrbluehair]

So jelly, what you are essentially saying without getting too wordy is, you are more excited for this movie than any other movie in your entire life...

This just seems like a movie that you should not have any anchoring to the book. Maybe this is an instance where for some the movie is better than the book. Maybe not, I have no expectations and may wait till it's On Demand.


Now someone get jellydonut a fresh bowl of cheerios, because someone pissed in his last bowl and now he's grumpy!!! LOL

[lhb412]

Spoilers if music counts as spoilers:

[klen7]

According to Matt Frank the Mechagodzilla design used in the film is not an existing Mechagodzilla design

[lhb412]

^ Huh.

[klen7]

^ it sounds like it isn't necessarily even mechagodzilla, but a non-copyrighted stand-in despite using the name

[lhb412]

^ ... so, that means no Toho characters are actually here?

[XvGojira]

It's something that kind of makes sense, in world to me. The people mod their virtual toys, if memory serves the main character put the moving red light from Knight Rider on the front of his DeLorian along with a Ghostbusters logo on the door. So if some one got a MG they might mod it up for themselves.

[Benjamin Haines]

[lhb412]

Welp. Thought I'd make a trip to the theater to see my boys, but it seems like the whole shabang was a false alarm.

[Benjamin Haines]

Bootleg screencaps of Mechagodzilla:

[lhb412]

It's... a Zoid?

[The Shadow]

Make you wonder why they even bothered using the MechaGodzilla name instead of something generic like Robo-Dinox.

[Henry88]

still a better MG than the anime one.

[jellydonut25]

[lhb412]

[klen7]

So we have to wait for the third movie to make a judgement?!?

[lhb412]

^ clever

[jellydonut25]

Interesting point was made by someone I was talking about this with:
Every single other nostalgia-bait thing in this movie is a more-or-less dead-on representation of its most iconic visual, begging the question, "Why is Mechagodzilla SO different?" It stands out more because it's the ONLY one.

Potential answer - They weren't completely sure about the rights, and were trying to get them up until the last minute but had to have a movie, and went with something they could have called, "Mechasaurus," or something and played the "Well....it's not TECHNICALLY 'Mechagodzilla,' " card.

Unlike a ticket to this movie, I'd buy that.

[Specium Ray]

[tbeasley]

Or it was mandated by Toho that they come up with a new design. Back in the 90s they sent Sony Heisei Godzilla concept art as a template but said it couldn't be an exact duplication, it had to be something else. Yeah if it would've been cooler with a classic design but I still thought it was a nice moment, especially with that Silvestri version of the classic Godzilla theme.

I did enjoy the movie a lot - it embodies escapism in a blatantly wonderful way. You see a lot of movies in love with other movies now, but RPO was more like a movie in love with ALL media, everything was on a level playing field. It shows even the guy who made Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan is just another audience member/consumer like the rest of us who thought it would be cool/funny to see Chucky kill a bunch of guys.

[Geno]

Surprisingly good, considering the source material. It's a bit vapid but the action scenes are Spielberg at his best.

[tbeasley]