It was game on at the South by Southwest Film Festival last night, as Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the cult sci-fi novel Ready Player One made its world premiere. Austin, Texas’ Paramount Theatre was the site of the film’s first public screening anywhere and, despite a few quibbles (our own Britt Hayes was not a fan, as you’ll see from her tweet below) and at least one notable technical snafu during the climax (the sound went out for about a minute) the film played to a great reception. There was a standing ovation in the room, and as the tweets below largely indicate, the response was overwhelmingly positive, even among some critics that were not fans of Ernest Cline’s novel and were very skeptical going in.

I’ve read a lot of people writing this movie off before they even see it. Personally, I’m always inclined to see the movie first and then decide for myself, particularly when the filmmaker in charge is one of Spielberg’s caliber. It’s not like the dude’s been in the midst of a slump. His last really good movie came out literally two and a half months ago! And just in the last couple of years he’s produced some of the greatest works of his entire career. So I’m excited to see these early reviews, and excited to see the movie itself. Bring it on.

Ready Player One opens on March 29.

 

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