Blast from the Past

Rating: 9/10 (5 April 2018)

Steven Spielberg is back. With a nostalgic overdose that covers pretty much everything pop culture has to offer. Especially a movie geek has his blast with it. From famous video games to classic movies, primarily from the 80s, the film is a 2,5 hour long Easter egg. I am not the biggest fan of animation/real life hybrids, especially not if it has a video game look but here it worked, mostly thanks to the many references. Especially the "Shining" scene was an absolute classic. I really got many shivers down my spine. A great homage from Spielberg to his late friend Stanley Kubrick. The actors were wisely chosen. Tye Sheridan was perfectly cast. He really embodied the nerd character. Olivia Cooke was also wonderful. Her shyness was extremely cute and likable. I think this was the final breakthrough for her for an interesting career. Ben Mendelsohn was all right but he can do better. He was sometimes a bit bit stereotype. A performance that positively surprised me was by Mark Rylance. Of course a fantastic actor, but the role seemed pretty mediocre but it was a great character in the end. He gave a fantastic and touching performance, despite his hair cut. Simon Pegg was also fine. The soundtrack was excellent. I missed John Wiliams but Alan Silvestri's score was also okay but had potential for improvement. A great cyber adventure with many great action scenes and choreography.