The High Five - Comparing the book to the movie counterparts (and I-r0k)
With Ready Player Two coming soon (as in TODAY!) I thought I’d write up some more of my thoughts on Ready Player One, both the book and the movie. Today, let’s look at the High 5 and the differences in the book and movie versions!
Parzival - I feel the book did a good job of making him a likeable loser geek. You could really get on his side because he was so dedicated and determined, even while his home life was awful. He was smart and good with computers, and I loved seeing him banter back and forth with Aech in the basement. If there’s one thing about his character that has aged poorly, it’s his relentless need to get Art3mis’ attention. In particular, talking about how he did things like stood outside her place blasting a stereo for 2 hours, flying by and dropping love letters over her base, things like that. His determination to “win her back” was a bit creepy, though luckily that doesn’t last long in the book at all. I think nowadays we expect people to be a little more “no means no, you have to accept her decision”. But still, he was a teenager, and that is sometimes a harder lesson to learn.
Parzival on the movie side was very similar, I love the suitably geeky look he has, and how he’s much more dashing in the Oasis. Although I feel Wade didn’t wear his glasses much after the beginning of the movie? I may actually prefer his home life in the movie, how his aunt was nice but her boyfriend was still a jerk. It made you feel a little worse about the explosion, you know?
Art3mis - Okay, first of all, what happened to Art3mis being kind of short and stocky? Was kind of disappointed that she looked so vanilla in the movie. She’s still cool, even though we don’t get to learn as much about her as we do in the books. We get the idea that she’s pretty internet famous, but not to the extent that the books talk about it. I appreciate that the movie tried to give her a bigger role though, by not only having her in a resistance against IOI, but switching the IOI infiltration to her being an indentured servant instead of Wade. I thought the book’s handling of Wade’s ingenuity and escape was more exciting, but it was still nice to see Samantha get more to do.
Daito and Shoto - This one’s a bit harder, as they didn't really get much time in either the book or the movie. I will say that when we meet young Sho in real life in the movie, I thought he did a great job and it made him really likeable. That’s probably more personality-wise than we got from either of the two in the book. Obviously a big change was Daito didn't die in the movie, and was key to helping Wade trick Sorento later on in the film. Did Daito need to die for the story to work? We already knew Sorento and IOI were pretty evil, what with bombing the stacks and all. But it did show that just because they were the High Five, it didn't mean they were untouchable. I wouldn't say I have a preference either way with Daito, he’s certainly more standoffish in the book, but I certainly prefer the cute but tough Sho we get in the movie.
Aech - Well, hmm. Parzival’s best friend is a really likeable character in both the movie and the book. And don’t get me wrong, I like Aech’s design in the movie, since they’re so into building it was a cool idea to have their avatar look a bit mechanical in its midsection. But while Aech’s gender is still hidden in the movie, her race isn’t Not sure why they chose that, but it’s not a deal-breaker for me, I still like the movie Aech as well. It’s great to hear her heartbreaking reason for choosing a white male avatar in the books though, and I’ve used that point in my book discussion groups at the library when we’ve read this book
Bonus - I-r0k - Okay, he’s not part of the High Five, but I just really want to compare his book and movie selves, alright? He is SO incredibly different! But I’ve got to say, I LOVE his portrayal in the movie. He still has the over-the-top look to him, only now instead of carrying a huge useless gun in a chat room, he’s got a weird tentacle arm and a huge skull-like image on his chest. He so wants to look badass! But it’s just his delivery. I found him so funny in the movie, I always looked forward to another scene with him in it. Compare him to the book version, where he’s really just a wannabe gunter who enjoys making fun of Parzival and how poor he is. As a side note, I always thought it was weird that I-Rok in the book sells out Parzival and Aech, and then he’s never heard from again! I kept expecting him to show up as a new recruit of IOI’s or something like that, joining their side after he sold out. But no, he just posted about knowing them on the message boards and then is gone forever. So yeah, I-Rok, huge jerk in the book, funny villain in the movie. His was one change that was really huge but I loved anyway!
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