Spielberg at his best -

Rating: 9/10 (25 April 2018)

Spielberg at his best;
I really enjoyed this escape from reality and the homage to so many movies and cultural icons Steven Spielberg has managed to cram into this game within a game movie.
A few weeks ago I reviewed another virtual reality movie a (rom com) Game Night , which I really loathed and thought absolute crap so I was a little sceptical about Ready Player One.
Last Sunday we visited our neighbours very switched on and clever Grandson Callum for his 9th birthday celebration and he was engrossed in his new video game with head set in place and I could see it had captured his imagination and I spotted his Avatar or virtual reality identity in full destroyer battle mode.
I wish now I'd taken up his invitation to join in the game as I've never played a video game but there's always next time.
This experience unknowingly prepared me for this movie in which has cleverly combined real actors , who live in a bleak futuristic 2045 in dismal residential towers called "The Stacks".
The occupants of this dark and shattered world escape to the Oasis a virtual realty world where fantasy is the aim and adventure is the game.
Some have said this may be Spielberg 's greatest movie I'm not sure about that sweeping statement but it's up there with ET and Close Encounters.
A terrific youthful cast headed by Tye Sheridan as Parzival, our hero and Olivia Cooke as his capable side kick and romantic interest are the young game players but I was also impressed by the villain Australia 's Ben Mendelsohn as Sorrento and Mark Rylance as Anorak and the inventor of the Oasis James Halliday.
Also loved the music and the fact that what could seem a bleak future Spielberg has transformed into a spectacular colourful world where the human element is most the important component.
It's more about friendship , loyalty and caring for your fellow humans and reality really wins out in the end.
A High Five ! and I'll add 4 to score this movie a 9.