Last week, while on vacation, I decided to check out the latest Steven Spielberg film, Ready Player One.

The trailers had me intrigued because I wasn’t sure what to expect exactly, granted, I have never read the book. It seemed like a fun nostalgia trip, and that’s exactly what it was. I was actually kind of relieved by that. I’m glad that they didn’t try too hard to force a compelling story out of this premise. This is the kind of movie where you can just shut your brain off for two hours and enjoy the ride. Spielberg, of course, does a solid job.  His ability to be lighthearted to downright suspenseful really helped give this movie the tone that it needed. He really was the perfect director to helm this project. Ernest Cline, who wrote the book, and Zak Penn both worked on the screenplay. They knew why people would go to see this one, but they still manage to tell a fun story; I don’t think this story would have worked if they tried to be too serious. Wade, played by Tye Sheridan, has all the charm and wit that you would expect. Ben Mendelsohn stars as antagonist Sorrento, and gives a good performance, but is ultimately overshadowed by everything else in the movie. The supporting cast does a good job too, there’s even a few surprise cameos. As I said before, this movie is jam packed with nostalgic eye candy. It’s all part of this virtual world where the characters can take on their identities or even use them as a weapon or ally. So you’ll see a race with the DeLorean and the bike from Akira. You’ll see The Iron Giant, Master Chief and more  There’s even a part in the film where they stunningly re-create moments of a horror classic. You never know who you’ll see just randomly walking past.

This is the biggest strength of this film. If you took that away, I don’t think this movie would work. I’m even more surprised by the fact that there were so many IP’s in this, I’m glad they made it work though. There’s just enough of everything to make this worth a watch, especially if you love 80’s and 90’s nostalgia. This is even a great video game movie.

All in all, this a great ride that you don’t want to miss. Also if you’re able too, I highly recommend seeing this in 4DX. Ready Player One is currently playing in theaters everywhere.