Rating:4.5/5 stars

Spielberg is back.

After a decade of directing period dramas and expensive family films, legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg returns to the cultural phenomenon of the Hollywood blockbuster to helm his newest project, “Ready Player One.” Based on the 2011 novel with the same name by Ernest Cline, who co-wrote the script with Zak Penn (“The Avengers”), “Ready Player One” is a love letter to those who live and breathe pop culture. It is also Spielberg’s most exciting film since his highly underrated 2002 film, “Minority Report.”

“Ready Player One” takes place in the near future of 2045. Overpopulation and corruption are rampant, making humanity’s general outlook bleak and miserable. To escape the woes of the real world, people enter the OASIS, a virtual reality world created by James Halliday (Mark Rylance, “Dunkirk”) and Ogden Morrow (Simon Pegg, “Star Trek Beyond”). When Halliday dies, a game is initiated to find an Easter egg within the realm of the OASIS. Whoever finds the egg becomes the owner of the virtual world and obtains Halliday’s massive fortune.

Our main hero and one of these egg hunters, or “Gunters,” is Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan, “The Yellow Birds”), an optimistic teen from Columbus, Ohio. He is joined by his best friend Aech (Lena Waithe, “Master of None”), rebellious but kind hearted Art3mis (Olivia Cooke, “Thoroughbreds”), Japanese teen Daito (Win Morisaki, “A Yell from Heaven”) and Sho (Philip Zhao), a young Japanese boy. Together, they plunge into the depths of the OASIS, solving clues and encountering hazardous obstacles.

In opposition is Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn, “Darkest Hour”), the greedy CEO of an opposing tech company who wants control of the OASIS for his own selfish needs, and T.J. Miller (“The Emoji Movie”) as i-R0k, a bounty hunter and weapons dealer who is employed by Sorrento. The motivations and interactions that present themselves between Mendelsohn and Miller are cliché (Sorrento is motivated by money, i-r0k is the obvious hired gun, etc.), but the true nature of the film comes down to the overall delivery and charm. Sorrento is the typical corporate foil, but when combined with the humorous i-R0k, it leads to some incredibly amusing scenes.

“Ready Player One” moves at a brisk pace as the story weaves through the various plot threads and sequences. The runtime may be 140 minutes, but every second is investing and gratifying. The OASIS is also the most unique virtual world ever seen in a motion picture. Sure, the idea of having various characters interact with each other has been done before in either “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” or “South Park’s” Imaginationland episodes, but “Ready Player One” takes this concept further by making the world fully interactive. Not only can you be anything, but you can also do anything. Want to scale Mount Everest with Batman? In the OASIS, it is possible.

The film’s biggest detraction is the main characters. Despite the fact that the script gives them a lot of funny things to say and do, none of them are particularly memorable. Two of the characters, Daito and Sho, are given so little character development that they seep into the background. Rylance, however, stands out as the introverted creator, and Cooke is also serviceable as Wade’s love interest.

“Ready Player One,” flaws aside, is the most entertaining film Spielberg has released in years. The visuals are excellent, the action is filmed beautifully, and the overall theme of embracing one’s own reality is executed perfectly. Enter the OASIS with “Ready Player One.”

Image from Warner Bros. Pictures via YouTube.com