I really get upset with folks when they compare a movie to the book. So I hope I do not hate myself too much for this review.
I almost feel as if I need to explain why I am going to compare the two in this case. I will hold off and allow you to make that judgment.
So let's start with the movie. By itself, the movie was a fun action film. We have a commonly told tale of a dystopian future. We have a generation of people who hide from reality in a beautiful virtual
world. Virtual reality has in many cases has morphed into the only reality. The whole balance gets upset once the owner/creator passes away. In his virtual will, he offers the keys to the company and his amassed wealth. There's, of course, a catch. To gain this you must complete a set of complex puzzles. What makes it even more complex is the puzzle is in many ways is the creator's mind.
In this, I fond the movie pays homage to overall all pop culture. It had plenty of hidden easter eggs for everyone. I also didn't feel like it was trying to be overly pretentious. The story follows along fairly well-established tropes. While this makes the movie fun and easy to watch. There was nothing that makes the movie stick out from others. So I would be surprised if it holds any significant longevity over the ages.
While I normally find plenty of faults in movie adaption from their books. I think in a lot of ways the movie outshines the book. While I found the book enjoyable. It felt the author was overly pretentious
at times. It felt as if the references were over explained to the point of almost making it unreadable at times. I felt the puzzles were meant to relate to an almost Sherlock Holmes level of detection. After they were explained you felt less like Watson being filled in with an elementary oversight. More like a plebian not in the knowledge of what was made to feel like an important cultural point in history.
While the movie might have dumbed down the puzzle a bit too much. I felt it clicked with a much larger audience. That is where I think it truly outshines the books at many levels.
