One of the biggest complaints from book-lovers about book-to-movie films is how screenwriters and directors change much loved details about the novel to better fit into a film. Steven Spielberg’s newest film, Ready Player One, was no exception. The film, while sticking to the idea behind Ernest Cline’s novel of the same title, rewrote the adventure in a way that provided an easier translation from the pages to the big screen. While avid book fans might not appreciate the multitude of changes, the film still offered an exciting experience for moviegoers alike.

The film began with a walkthrough of the OASIS, a virtual reality software that gives people an escape from their ravaged existence, narrated by Wade, the protagonist of the film. This dialogue not only served to provide a brief history to the plot and introduce Wade as the main character, but also directed the focus to the hunt for Halliday’s Easter Egg, a seemingly impossible quest to locate three keys hidden within the OASIS by its deceased creator.

From that moment on, the film diverged from the book. However, I felt as though the changes did little to distract from what the book was. While most of the tasks completed to reach the keys were different from the book, the movie still followed along the same lines and clearly took inspiration from the novel. Despite the initial surprise, I felt as though the choice to redesign the plot allowed for the movie to prosper. Though much of the cleverness behind the clues was lost, including the original riddles from the novel would have either increased the runtime or led to much of the problem solving being cut out of the film to keep it at a reasonable time.

While the novel was full to the brim with ‘80s references, the film tended to eliminate the excess talk of old school video games, music, novels, and movies. These clever nods focused on the more popular and easily recognizable remnants of the culture back then. The music, mostly ‘80s hits, added to the retro, yet advanced atmosphere, and in specific moments, provided comic relief.

One of the most astounding aspects of the film was the graphics. The digital elements used to depict the OASIS blended beautifully with the shots in real life, illustrating an incredibly realistic rendering of virtual reality. Main characters Wade and Art3mis’ avatars were realistic to a point, with an otherworldly quality that distinguishes OASIS characters from their counterparts.

Featuring a cast comprised mostly of fresh faces, including Tye Sheridan and Olivia Cooke as Wade and Art3mis, gave the film another step up. While it also included big name actors such as Simon Pegg, the less-familiar cast members provided a more authentic performance than what would have been offered if the film had starred household names as the protagonists. Since one of the hallmarks of the OASIS is the anonymity of its users, the reveal of the people behind the avatars came as more of a surprise due to the relatively unknown cast.

Despite its deviation from the novel, the newly released Ready Player One film offered up great performances and graphics that blended together to create the ultimate moviegoing experience.