Probably won't appeal to everyone, but still really good!

Rating: 7/10 (29 March 2018)

Lets start off by stating that I have never read the book for this film and actually had never heard of it until the trailer for this film was released. So due to this my knowledge of the source material is well zero. There is a huge amount of stuff to process about this film so here are some of the main takeaways.
Firstly the strongest part of the film is the directing...........I know its shocking that Steven Spielberg made a good film. Actually joking aside I do think that this is one of the better directed films he has put out in a while. Some of Spielberg's more recent films have been a little lack-luster which made me question whether he still had the directing bug. I clearly look like a fool for thinking like that because this film is directed immaculately.
Another positive is the cast who are all extremely strong in there given roles, firstly the two standouts Tye Sheridan and Olivia Cooke are both really good in the film. Even though there "real world" relationship is extremely forced, the actors chemistry is really good and they bounce of each other well. Is Ben Mendelsohn ever going to get to play a "good guy"......well probably not because his performance once again is menacing and cunning , he is just so good as a villain even though a bit type cast. Shoutouts should also go to Mark Rylance and Simon Pegg who were both very good in there respective roles.
The last positive for me is the visual effects which are very good and even spectacular in parts. This is a complete contrast from the trailers which didn't look good at all. Before going in to see the film I was worried that the "VR" world avatars would be jarring to watch, put you definitely get use to it very quickly, this is helped by the good effects. There are some definite holding your breath moments in this film that are just plain cool to see from a visual stand point.
Quickly before moving onto the negatives, the very last positive is the two words in quotations............."The Shining"...............perfect.
Now the negatives, I have slightly pointed out one of them already and that is the forced relationship between Tye Sheridan and Olivia Cooke. I understand they were going to meet in the real world at some point, but as soon as they do like a flick of a switch instantly in love............really. Its just lazy writing and skipping over an important foundation of the film to move onto more action scenes. Would have liked just a bit more time to flesh out there "real world" relationship, the actors performances deserved it.
The other negative is who this film is targeted towards, does this audience/demographic actually exist. Now this comes from someone born in the mid 90's so take this with a pinch of salt, but I fear that the perfect audience member for this film is a complete combination of a childhood from the 80's and the modern day together. I know there was a lot of 80's nostalgia that went straight over my head because I wasn't alive then and am not familiar to it. Similarly is someone born then gonna really know what VR actually is??? What I'm trying to say is that is this film trying to please too many demographics at once???
Overall I really enjoyed the film 75% out of 100 or 7.5 out of 10 its almost very good, however this film will not appeal to everyone, you've either got to be modern day gamer or someone who grew up/lived through the 80's to really appreciate and like the film. This what I fear is isolating a lot of people from watching this film, especially looking at the box office predictions for this film.....ouch. Final thought, Is Steven Spielberg being beaten at the very game he create............the blockbuster????