I have one rule when watching adaptations; as long as it tells an equally good or better story, the writers can make whatever changes they like. This rule was not adhered to with Ready Player One.

Changes are made for seemingly no reason. Characters are changed but not improved. The sometimes sluggish pacing of the book isn't fixed, instead the slumps are bizarrely shifted around. The film rests so hard on the books myriad pop culture references while barely supplying any context as to why they're there. It's like Spielberg wanted to show off how many industry mates he has and how many licences the studio paid for.

As a fan of the book I was dissapointed and as a movie fan I was bored. The frustrating thing is the books plot could've made for an amazing film. Its a shame those who haven't read it will see this sloppy cash in as their first introduction to the story.