Ready Player One film review — Not bad for a Spielberg film with a lot of new licenses

The tech, game, and virtual reality industries have a lot of hopes tied to Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One film, which debuts on March 29 throughout the United States. I caught a premier at the Dolby Theater in San Francisco as part of promotion for Roblox, a virtual world company which has its own sort of James Halliday father figure and creator in Dave Baszucki, the cofounder of Roblox and its virtual world. I enjoyed myself, and so will anyone who gets a kick out of hunting down pop culture allusions.

Virtual reality plays a central role in Ready Player One. The book inspired many people in VR to pursue their own dreams, raising billions of dollars and creating a whole entertainment ecosystem. The movie could play a similar role in popularizing VR among consumers, who may enjoy the movie and take an interest in VR. Or so that is what some companies in the VR industry hope. HTC, for instance, has created a number of Ready Player One VR experiences to accompany the movie. I don’t think any single industry can count on a film to lift it into the public’s consciousness. Those industries have to do it themselves with compelling products.