Great: intriguing, intelligent and entertaining

Rating: 8/10 (15 February 2020)

It is the year 2045 and the world is addicted to virtual reality games and experiences. The ultimate virtual destination is the OASIS and the creator of it, James Halliday, has just died. As his legacy he has left a puzzle that once solved will give the winner the OASIS and Halliday's shares in his company, worth $500 billion. A poverty-stricken teenager, Wade (in-game name Parzival), is determined to win the prize.
Great sci fi drama, directed by Steven Spielberg. Highly plausible: the world Spiellberg creates could easily happen and you could easily see virtual reality experiences being how people live their lives and escape reality. The gamer world he portrays is quite accurate, from my own experiences.
With this virtual world created, the plot we have in it is quite intriguing and cleverly crafted. There are times when it threatens to be TOO clever and become confusing, but any confusion is temporary as a bit of thinking clears things up.
Good special effects, which you'd expect from Spielberg. Good pace, making for great entertainment.
Only major negative is that the movie does degenerate into an action movie for a longish spell in the second half. This was disappointing as it had been a great cerebral exercise until then and then it quickly switched to mindless action scenes.
Good ending, with a decent message.