Recommended

Rating: 6/10 (28 March 2018)

Let's start with the bottom line: This is the most enjoyable Spielberg movie in the past 15 years. Notice I wrote "enjoyable" and not "best". It's still a kids movie - the plot is simple (it's about literally looking for a MacGuffin - an Easter egg), stuff is spelled out, spoon fed to the audience and repeated twice (even the secret of the 3rd challenge is revealed twice!), so don't expect anything smart. However, it's visually stunning and I regret watching it in 2D because it seems to be the only movie since "Avatar" to be worth watching in 3D. Sound is also impressive.
There are tons of pop culture references and for us 80's kids, this is a delight. I bet the kids watching this will miss many of those references but for us they are obvious and straight in the face. And there's one big gem in the middle of the movie which I won't spoil, so I'll just say that Kubrick fans will have a blast - I don't know if it's part of the original book but i'm quite certain it was a treat for Spielberg to handle.
With references to movies, songs and games appearing almost every two minutes, I have no idea how they could have afford it - I know it's a blockbuster movie but still, the royalties were probably huge (unless the studio owns the rights).
The music was an obvious Alan Silvestri work. I thought perhaps it was John Williams trying to imitate Silvestri because it's a Spielberg movie and there were so many 80's references, but checking the credits, it's really him.
Mark Rylance was brilliant as Halliday and I honestly didn't recognize him until checking the IMDB credits now. I also didn't recognize Simon Pegg.
Aech's voice was terribly miscast (but there's a reason for that, revealed later).
All in all, it's a fun movie. If you're an 80's kid and if you liked "Avatar" and/or "Wreck it Ralph", you'll enjoy this film.