GUNDAM!!!!!! Fun times at the movies - Willy Wonka Meets Wreck-it-Ralph

Rating: 7/10 (29 March 2018)

I saw an early screening of this last week. I've never heard of the book before, but I am a fan of movies, 80's, retro games and this being directed by Spielberg finally got me interested in a movie I would actually watch these days.
The movie runs 2 hours and 20 minutes (almost 3 hours) but it doesn't feel long at all as it doesn't drag much (maybe around the 3rd part it slows down)
This movie basically reminds me of Willy Wonka meets Wreck-it-Ralph. Instead of a candy factory, the competition deals with a virtual reality 'gaming' world where the first one to find all 3 secret "easter egg" keys would become ownership of the world. It is actually perfect timing today and not too far fetched with all the VR technology and avatar/gaming society going on.
I wouldn't say the movie is powerful or intense on the level of Spielberg's Minority Report, but the movie definitely does have its moments, especially the beginning racing scene.
The movie is definitely a must-experience in theater, especially with the thunderous Dolby Atmos pounding the chairs when the T-Rex from Jurassic Park and King Kong is smashing everything.
The most exciting, interesting, fun parts of the movie is when you see all these nostalgic iconic things appearing on the screen at the same time; I wish the whole film could just be that.
The movie will be more enjoyable if you've seen or know anything about Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror film The Shining.
The best parts for me was definitely the beginning racing scene (the Delorean, but I wish it would have actually flown too instead of just being grounded most of the time driving), with Jurassic Park and King Kong; The Shining; and last battle where Gundam shows up did give me slight chills.
I saw Chun Li, street fighter characters but they were so brief, like it would have been cooler to see more of those iconic characters fighting. The final battle, there's too many characters on screen at once, it's too hard to spot what they are.
Goro from Mortal Kombat is in it.
There's a lot well known soundtrack in this movie, even the original Japanese Godzilla theme song was a nice touch.
One thing I found odd was how it seemed like this IOI company was the mafia and running all these drones around the public and suddenly at the end the movie, we find actual police officers existed in the movie... like where the hell were they this whole damn time???
I wish we could see more of these nostalgic infused character types of movies. I wish they would have had Johnny Five from Short Circuit or Robocop.... come on that's 80's!! Maybe they couldn't get the rights I guess.
While the movie is enjoyable, it is typical Spielberg campy family-Disney ending with a pretty goofy villain. There's a cute "twist" but not really any major shock when it comes to the plot. Overall though, it's a movie worth checking it out in theaters, IMAX, 3D, Atmos, the best you possibly could.