Ready Player One Review: 7 Ups And 3 Downs

1. It's Spielberg's Best Blockbuster In Years

The BFG. The Adventures of Tintin. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. They’re the only movies that could be considered blockbusters that Steven Spielberg has made in the last 10 years, which frankly isn’t enough from the man who gave us Jaws, Close Encounters, E.T., Jurassic Park, and Saving Private Ryan.

Ready Player One doesn’t hit those heights (but few movies do), and yet it does stand as one of the finest blockbusters Spielberg has delivered this century - I’d say his best since Minority Report back in 2002, at the least.

He really is a master of the form, and there are a lot of Spielbergian touches here, from his handling of nostalgia to the young cast of hopeful, geeky kids going off on a big adventure, and the sparks of humour, whimsy, and pure beating heart that exists across the movie. With Indiana Jones 5 next up, this is perhaps the best movie he could’ve made in advance, because he is certainly back in the blockbuster groove here, and his direction is the biggest reason the film succeeds.