Not just a nostalgia-fest

Rating: 8/10 (7 April 2018)

Logan's Run by way of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, the latest Spielberg romp takes us to 2045. Following economic hardships, the world retreats into the Oasis, a virtual world were anything is possible. The Oasis' creator, long since passed, has left behind three keys that, if found, would give the winner control of his fortune and the Oasis. So it's up to a ragtag groups of geeks to solve the puzzles before an evil corporation does.
Despite a 2 hour plus runtime, RPO is a lean, tight and fun ride in Spielberg's own masterful tradition. Indeed, it feels like an evolution from 2011's Tintin: Spielberg gets to play in a virtual world and do all sorts of fun thing relating to composition, take length, scene transition and the action itself. Unbound by practical limits, this means we get some dyanmic setpieces, such as a crazy race through New York, complete with Kong, a floating dance room fight and an epic siege that rivals anything from LOTR.
Author Cline and screenwriter Zak Penn provide a decent foundation for all the excitement, hard reverence for tradition being the name of the game here. Of course, all the references were a big selling point (and are thankfully, never as intrusive as might've been the risk), and have a rather wide gamut beyond 80sgasm, but the structure and the characters themselves are archetypical by design. Broad enough to be quickly recognisable, just detailed enough so you have some investment and thus, feel genuine tension during the action and mystery. Predictable but the context justifies it.
The cast work well within these archetypes, with Tye Sheridan acquiting himself well as, basically, a summation of Spielberg archetypes: a poor dreamer kid who's also a bit of wiz with tech and, despite his awkwardness, has a good heart. Ben Mendehlson is having a ball as the ultimate corporate dick, while the always reliable Mark Rylance turns in a very tender performance as the creator. In fact, his backstory ends up being the most touching stuff in the whole film.
While I think the term is overused, 'hella fun' is the apt descriptor. The Struzan poster should've clued you in as to how retro the film aimed to be, and how much throwback, earnest as it is, you can stomach will dictate how you take in RPO. It's not deep and doesn't offer much meaningful commentary about geek culture (though points for trying to discuss the improtance of not using escapism to live your life), but like an Atari, it just works. B-grade Spielberg for sure, but frankly, that's better than most filmmakers' A.