Starring Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, T.J. Miller, Simon Pegg, Mark Rylance

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Warner Bros. out now

Gamer Wade lives his life in online environment the OASIS, trying to discover the hidden keys that will unlock a better life for him, but sinister corporation IOI is hot on his heels.

One wonders if Steven Spielberg watched so many Amblin/Spielberg pastiches coming to the screen – Stranger Things/Midnight Special/ Super 8 to name three – that he decided it was time to make his own. And make no mistake, this is big, old school Spielberg, packed with references to 80s pop culture and even some nods to his own films. Ernest Cline’s novel on which this is based is a cornucopia of references and Easter eggs, setting entire scenes within other movies, and the movie is equally happy to directly reference specific characters and scenes.

Unlike the book, which does to a large degree rely on you knowing the references, the movie often uses them as window dressing, meaning that even if you don’t spot them, it doesn’t spoil your experience. But if you are a child of the 80s then you’ll spot everything from Jurassic Park’s T-Rex to Marty McFly’s DeLorean. Alan Silvestri takes scoring duties away from Spielberg’s regular composer John Williams, delivering exciting, orchestral anthems – at one point even directly referencing his Back to the Future when the Zemeckis Cube is activated.

It’s all a load of fun, even the mild jeopardy of the book is dialled back. Ben (Rogue One) Mendelsohn is in full panto  mode as IOI baddy Sorrento, and what a hoot to see that his password (B055man69) to this huge technological wonderland is kept on a scrap of paper! Tye Sheridan spends a lot of time as avatar Parzival, while also developing a crush on Olivia Cooke’s Samantha/Art3mis. It’s a sweet relationship that grows both online and in the real world, and I think Spielberg makes the right choice in spending more time in reality than the book does.

Mark Rylance is great fun as OASIS creator/nerd Halliday, frequently appearing in avatar guise as Anorak(!), and ably supported by Simon Pegg’s Ogden Morrow. There’s a couple of nice twists along the way around some of the companions, though I feel that Sho and Daito do get sidelined to allow the main three characters more screen time.

By the time the finale rolls across the screen you’ll either be playing ‘spot the character’ or just gasping at the sheer scale of it all. There’s huge set-piece action scenes that are technically audacious. Highlights for me include a whole sequence set inside a famous horror film (hilarious), the use of Akira Ifukube’s original 1954 Godzilla theme, and Chucky from Child’s Play going on a rampage!

The very ending might be just a little too pat and sentimental, but what a ride. Inevitably, for someone who had already read and loved the book, I miss certain scenes and tasks, but I guess that copyright and other considerations mean that the book as was couldn’t be filmed in quite the same way. I’d recommend you still read the book, as there’s plenty of other material to enjoy.

Verdict: Ridiculously fun, and crying out for a home video purchase to allow you  to freeze-frame the action to see what you might have missed, it’s also a sweet romance, high energy action adventure. Spielberg’s most Spielberg movie in some time – grab some popcorn and strap in tight! 8/10

Nick Joy