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Ready Player One | Book vs Movie Review


Copyright - Steven Spielberg

Ready Player One is a story about a young boy named Wade Watts and his search for an easter egg in a worldwide virtual reality game called the OASIS. Whoever discovers the easter egg, wins the game creator’s fortune and control over the OASIS.

When I first learned that Ready Player One was going to be a movie I cheered, and then I panicked. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is one of my top 10 favorite books, mainly because it is an ode to all things nerdy and geeky.

After the first trailer was released a few months back, I saw there were going to be changes, and I was scared. However, it did not stop me from watching it on it's release date. 

The movie does a pretty swell job of keeping the general feel and gist of the book and its story. It is an ode to geekdom and all things nerdy - this being said…if you are not well versed in video games, comics, old cult movies or anything of that sort…you might be lost and might not enjoy the movie. Mostly because all the references will be lost to you (the same goes for the book).  

The movie was modernized in its geekdom - featuring games from the 2000s such as Overwatch. This was one of its major changes, and I was okay with it, because it had to appeal to a large modern audience. 

Overall I enjoyed the movie and liked catching all the references (even if I am pretty sure I did not catch them all).

Recently, this story has received a lot of backlash for being unrealistic or not being great literature or having shitty female characters or bad diversity or whatever - I feel that the movie did the book justice (even with the changes that I will go into later on). It told the story of a teenage boy (probably 17 - 20), who believes the Oasis is all that matters and that is why he wants to protect it, only to learn that there is more to life than living in that virtual reality. While fighting an evil corporation who wants to ruin the OASIS for everyone else (because greedy companies want to profit off free things, like always).

And the female character I saw people complain about in the book for being poorly written, actually was given a major plot point in the movie that was originally part of Wade’s arc. She also had a bigger role in the film other than being Wade’s love interest. That was pretty rad.

Now to the real book vs movie comparison. So if you have not read or seen Ready Player One…BEWARE OF SPOILERS THAT ARE COMING.

First major change is that we don’t know Wade’s age and we don’t know if he is in school. In the book he is stuck on the planet where all the schools are present and kids receive their education. This was important because Wade is poor, and could not afford paying the teleportation fee to go to various parts of the same planet let alone other planets. By being stuck in this planet he was able to figure out the first clue and find the first dungeon in the school planet. The dungeon was from the first edition Dungeons & Dragons.

The first two challenges were completely different book to movie, not a big deal. I guess racing and being in a horror movie is more exciting for the audience rather than going through a dungeon and playing an arcade game.

Another major change was how Wade got the extra life coin - which saved him when the big baddy decided to destroy the whole planet and zero everyone out. In the book, Wade completes a Pacman game with a perfect score (thinking it is the second clue) only to receive a quarter. In the movie it is given to him by a mechanical butler when Wade outsmarts it. (My brother told me that no one would want to watch anyone try to get a perfect score in Pacman…which is a fair point)

Also, the High Five (Parzival, Aech, Art3mis, Daito and Shoto) all lived in Columbus, Ohio rather than across the world. Which was convenient for the story I suppose. Daito never got murdered by the IOI which is great because he is pretty great during his on screen time. Also in the movie, Shoto is an 11-year-old Chinese boy - which was the cutest thing ever.

There were other changes done in the movie such as meeting Og Morrow at the very end after they won the game, but honestly that wasn’t a big deal…since they all lived in Columbus, Ohio and didn’t need any private jets to be united.

Even with all the changes, I was not angry or upset. I really enjoyed the movie and accepted the changes (unlike the Percy Jackson movies). It was visually pleasing movie celebrating all the things my dad, my brother, and I enjoy. It was a massive mash up done in a creative way - kinda like Who Framed Rodger Rabbit.

If you are well versed in video games, comics, cult movies or anything of that sort I think you’d enjoy the movie (and the book - even though it is more 70s oriented ). If you are not…well you probably won’t enjoy it as much. 

And if you are looking for something similar to Ready Player One (at least in book form) I recommend Warcross by Marie Lu.
book vs movie, book vs movie review, books,
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A Wrinkle in Time | Book vs Movie


Photo Credit: Disney Enterprise Inc.


I recently read A Wrinkle in Time because I was kinda hyped up for the movie. With it being a book turned movie, I wanted to see how the book to screen adaptation went....and quite frankly, I am impressed.

While the movie was not a perfect replica of the book, it came pretty damn close. There are only a some minor and one big change (that honestly wasn't that big of a deal). Before I go into detail, I want to warn the people who have not read or seen the movie -- the rest of this post will contain spoilers, so if you don't want the story to be ruined for you please read this after you have read or watched the movie!

The movie starts with a bit of a prologue where we are introduced to Mr. Murphy (Daddy Chris Pines), Meg ( Lyric Wilson ) and Mrs. Murphy ( Gugu Mbatha-Raw ), and we are introduced from the beginning that Mr. & Mrs. Murphy are big science wiz and are going to adopt a baby, Charles Wallace ( Deric McCabe ).

Then older Meg (Storm Reid) is introduce and the movie follows the book pretty well. Only minor change is that the twins, Sandy and Dennys, don't exist and Meg's bully has a name: Veronica (Rowan Blanchard). We are able to see Meg struggle at school and be teased because she is still not over her dad's disappearance.  Charles Wallace is also in school, and is too smart for his age just like in the book.

The only other small difference in the first half of the movie is that Mrs. Whatisit is introduced later by Charles Wallace rather than on the famous, "Dark and stormy night." Which is totally fine, as it still made the plot move forward.

The movie is true to character's personalities, especially the three kids. However, unlike the book, Meg, Charles Wallace and Calvin end up in Camozotz because of Meg's refusal to return to Earth without her dad. The Mrs' tesser is changed in course, and the kids are in Camozotz against their will. Unable to tesser them out the Mrs give just Meg their gifts and lets them go on the mission to rescue Mr. Murphy.

The movie added more to book in world building and the oddness of Camozotz. Also it was more dramatized which is fair since movies are different than books. Unlike the first half of the movie, which was very faithful to the book, in the second half we begin to see bigger changes.

For starters, we don't see the little boy bouncing the ball in the wrong rhythm (which is a minor thing sure). Meg, Charles Wallace and Calvin meet Mr. Red in a beach instead of the Central Intelligence straight away. So we don't see the forceful uniformity the center creates. At the beach Charles Wallace eats his sand sandwich and is quickly taken over by the IT...rather than fighting it and then letting himself get taken over due to his pride.

Once Charles Wallace becomes part of IT we are officially in the weird space of the Central Intelligence where he lets Meg find Mr. Murphy (rather than fighting her). Once Mr. Murphy is free, Charles Wallace starts taking them to The Brain. However, instead of meeting The Brain and having to unfollow the rhythm of the world...Calvin and Meg get taken over pretty quickly and Mr. Murphy tries to tesser Meg and Calvin away.

BUT, instead of tessering to the planet of Ixchel where Meg has to heal due to touching The Black Thing...Meg stays behind to save Charles Wallace. While this is kinda a big plot change, it did not hurt the film which is fair -- in Ixchel Meg learns how to save her brother and is sent back to be a warrior by the Mrs.

I understand that going to Ixchel would have just made the film longer and not all too necessary, because while in the room with The Brain -- Meg thinks of her faults and all the love in her, and figures out how to save Charles Wallace.

Rather than a screaming match like in the book, the movie gets a bit brutal and Charles Wallace uses the powers of IT to beat up his sister into giving in.

But obviously, Meg's love for Charles Wallace and his love to his sister beats the darkness and they are able to get away and bring Mr. Murphy home.

YAY HAPPINESS.

Overall, I am very pleased with the movie. The special effects and CGI were so beautiful too. I applaud the cast and crew of A Wrinkle in Time, and all the artists who worked on the film. Acting wise...I wasn't very impressed with Storm Reid, compared to her co-stars Levi Miller and Deric McCabe, who were fantastic for child actors. Reid had her good and bad scenes, but I see a lot of room for growth and improvement as an actor. (but what do I know haha)

If A Wrinkle in Time was part of your childhood I think you won't be disappointed with the movie adaptation. Go watch it!!
2018 books, a wrinkle in time, a wrinkle in time movie,
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