Ready Player One / Isle of Dogs

READY PLAYER ONE

One of my most anticipated movies of the year is finally here in Ready Player One. Based on the pop culture hit book by Ernest Cline and directed to the big screen by Steven Spielberg with the author himself helping adapt it. The movie takes place in the future and follows a poor boy named Wade Watts living in the futuristic slums called "The Stacks". The movie takes place in the 2040's where the most of the world spends their days in a virtual video game known as the Oasis, created by a genius nerd named James Halliday. After Halliday's death, he announced that he hid an easter egg in his game, and the only way to get to it was by completing three challenges that give you three keys. The first person to get the keys and reach the egg will be awarded control of the entire Oasis system. An evil corporation (IOI) that basically controls the real world is gunning for the egg to also control the virtual world of the Oasis, but Wade Watts and some new friends he makes stand in his way to what would be world domination. Wade Watts basically worships Halliday and everything he has ever done, so he'll do everything in his power to stop IOI from winning.

There's a lot to like in this movie, but it's not without its flaws. The main thing the movie did well though, were the visuals in the actual oasis. The movie was great to look at, it really felt like I was watching a futuristic video game come to life. The action and the characters all looked great and kept me excited to see what would come next. The movie features an endless amount of references and cameos from pop culture, it's impossible to catch them all. Lots of video game, movie and tv characters pop up throughout the movie and made me excited as a fan of lots of pop culture. It reminded me of Wreck-It Ralph in the way I was constantly looking around and trying to spot all the pop culture characters that appeared for a split second. That made the movie fun, but I'm not sure how that would affect the movie on second or third viewings. Yeah, it was cool to see it all, but there's gotta be more than that to make a good movie. Once the surprise factor is gone from seeing my favorite pop culture characters, would the rest of the movie hold up? I think it would, but I also think that it won't be as fun and exciting as the first watch.

The story itself is actually good though and taking away all the reference catching I was talking about previously, I think it's still worth watching on its own. There are lots of fun mystery solving and action scenes that the story never really drags or feels boring. The climax of the movie, in particular, is epic and fun with lots of crazy moments that I'll remember. There are some weaker moments that I could look past and still enjoy the movie. The characters aren't all done very well, some feeling weaker than others. There's a romance in the movie that feels a bit rushed and forced. Also, two characters are kind of just thrown into the story halfway through the movie without much explanation. It kind of makes sense though since this is only a two-hour movie with lots of events that need to happen before the end. It's understandable that there isn't enough time to put into every character and relationship, but it does kind of hurt the story. It's turning a 17-hour story into a two-hour movie, so changes had to be made. The movie is actually incredibly different than the book, but I actually liked that fact about the movie. It had it's own twists and turns that I found very fun, really my biggest disappointment is that the characters didn't all feel as fleshed out.

This is a great blockbuster movie overall, and it was the most fun I've had watching a movie so far this year. You'll get great visuals, action, some laughs, some interesting characters (and some not), a cool setting and an interesting story.

Though now that I'm posting this review late, the new Avengers movie just came out. This movie will probably be forgotten quickly with the rush of summer blockbusters coming in the coming weeks. I still recommend giving it a shot before it leaves, it's a movie worth watching in the theaters.

Overall Grade: B

ISLE OF DOGS

The second stop-motion animation from director Wes Anderson (the first being Fantastic Mr. Fox) finally came out on a wide release a few weeks ago. I was really excited for this movie for two reasons, one being that I love stop-animation and the other being my love for Fantastic Mr. Fox. This movie takes that style from Fantastic Mr. Fox and puts in on a grander scale. The movie takes place in a fictional city in Japan, where the population of dogs are all becoming sick with many symptoms. This leads to the city to getting rid of the entire dog population and putting them all on a giant trash island off the coast of the city. A 12-year-old boy named Atari was one of the people who had their dogs taken away from him. He decides to set off to the island in hopes to find his lost best friend. There he meets a pack of dogs that decide to help him travel through the island and search for his friend. 

From a visual standpoint, this movie is one of the best stop-motion movies I've ever seen. It feels incredibly detailed with every motion, character, and location. The sets are beautifully crafted and all the scenes are shot beautifully. I found myself just staring at the screen in delight the entire movie because of how great the movie was crafted. It's that special feeling that only stop-motion can give you with movies like Kubo, Coraline and Mary and Max can give you. A great sense of joy just from the visuals. 

That being said, I didn't enjoy this movie as much as those previously mentioned movies including Anderson's own, Fantastic Mr. Fox. The story was enjoyable enough, but I felt like it was missing something. I'm not even sure how to explain it well, but I think it has to do with the characters and how the story is presented. I never really felt connected to most of the characters in any way, except for the fact that they are dogs, and dogs are great. I guess I just felt a little bored at times with the story and how it progressed. There are still lots of good moments throughout the movie and overall I still liked the movie. This movie is still funny and the characters can be really charming at times. The voice acting is great and features a huge cast of all-stars who all do a really good job. It still has those weird moments that you'd expect from a Wes Anderson movie (if you've seen some then you know what I mean). 

Just a few drawbacks from the presentation of the story and some strange character moments don't stop this movie from being really entertaining. There are lots of laughs and some good emotional moments throughout the movie. The visuals and animation and the detail that went into them are what take this movie to another level. Like I said, it's a beautiful movie to watch and I find it super fascinating and it fills me with joy to see something like this on the big screen. If you are a fan of either Wes Anderson or stop-motion animation (or animation in general) then this movie is a must see. Just be ready for a little weirdness. 

Overall Grade: B-