Aquaman - Wan keeps DC in the game

Aquaman, directed by James Wan is the 6th film in the DC universe. We can all agree that this universe has faced more hiccups than any other universe but the only thing that has remained constant is the fan support that they've been receiving. We can also agree that they don't deserve it considering what they've been doing with their heroes. Box office numbers have always been low, too many studio interferences have spoilt their big budget flicks and the director choices have also not been perfect. In the midst of all this, Aquaman stands tall as probably the best movie in the current DC universe in terms of plot, special effects, and casting.

Marvel managed to establish a proper universe after the same six movies span. If we take the comics, without a doubt anyone with decent knowledge would agree that DC has way better characters, villains and storylines so we can't blame DC comics as a whole for failing to meet expectations. If anyone, Warner brothers are to be blamed for their current predicament. They've had successful movies in the past but they should have been more careful with this current universe, maybe they were overconfident, maybe they cut off too much, maybe they picked the wrong storylines, maybe the wrong director to direct but whatever it is, so far, this universe has been one huge mess. Nothing is going well for them, Henry Cavill has quit as Superman and Ben Affleck will no longer play Batman. They've pretty much screwed up their best heroes and there's no forgiveness for that, whatever the reason is.

At such a difficult time, every movie made henceforth gets about ten times more pressure than usual. When they said James Wan would be directing it, I had faith just like I had faith with the previous directors who screwed up the other movies. Wan had to play it safe with Aquaman and there wasn't much hype initially. Jason Momoa stars as Aquaman, with Amber Heard playing his love interest, Mera, Nicole Kidman playing Queen Atlanta and Patrick Wilson playing King Orm. The casting here is on point, Mera is definitely one of the best female characters in any comic book movie till date and I totally loved Amber Heard so much that I would love to see a solo movie for Mera.

So the movie's plot is quite simple, Atlanta falls in love with a guy Thomas Curry, a lighthouse keeper and then has a kid, Arthur Curry who has the powers of an Atlantean. Since people pollute the oceans too much, the Atlanteans, lead by Orm want all-out war against the people of the land. Arthur Curry sharing both their DNA will try to unite the land and the seas. Just a straightforward DC comics storyline about Aquaman. Maybe this sounds similar to Black Panther, but we have to understand that this is how it is in the comics and that sometimes just following the source material without tampering it would make things much easier and better. So far, comparing all the six movies Aquaman is the most comic accurate movie and we really have to appreciate this. 

The movie was visually amazing, it's quite shocking to know that the budget was just half as that of Justice league considering how crisp and clear the CGI looked. The special effects looked better than ever here, almost as good as Man of steel and Batman vs Superman. Jason does a fantastic job, he totally owns every scene he's in and they couldn't have gone with a better choice for Aquaman. 2018 is truly the year where we have to bury all the Aquaman jokes ever made. Khal Drogo doesn't disappoint and he's one of the best things that ever happened to the DC universe.

Wan has decided to play it safe and playing it safe now is the only way to keep this universe alive. Shazam is another movie I'm looking forward to and another movie that looks like a popcorn flick and DC definitely needs a lot more of these before making huge decisions. Aquaman is a perfect popcorn flick, and it knows to balance humour, action and is a CGI masterpiece. Definitely worth watching in IMAX and more than once. 

It's clear now that DC can make good solo movies and maybe they should stick to this for now, before going into big crowded movies like Justice League or Suicide Squad, not everyone can match Avengers Infinity War, not without a proper backstory for each of them. But I really don't see a future for the DC universe maybe we should just enjoy the present. I'm still heartbroken because of the fact that Henry has been fired as Superman and that Ben is out as Batman, after all, they're the pillars that built the DC universe, I'm happy to see other heroes get the limelight once a while but I'm not able to digest the fact that the DC universe screwed up their best heroes. Definitely not hyped for any other DC movies, stopped reading their newsletters, stopped subscribing to fan pages, but I'll definitely watch their movies when they do come. It just feels like they don't deserve such passion from their fans.

Verdict:
Fan in me: 8.5/10
Critic in me: 8/10

Looking forward to Shazam and Wonder Woman 2 but the usual hype that I had for the DC movie universe is now no more. I still love DC with all my heart, Batman will always be my favorite superhero and Superman will always have a special place in my heart. Well done team Aquaman, a much-needed win for Warner Brothers. Directors like James Wan should be given more chances and they should handle the bigger movies in the future maybe if they do that, there might be a future for their movies after all.

2.0 - Birdman or the unexpected ignorance of birds.

2.0 has been one of the most hyped movies ever to hit the screens and for plenty of reasons. It is a sequel to 2010's Endhiran which remains as one of the best blockbusters till date. Both superstar and Shankar have failed to live up to their reputation these past few years so in a way this is a vital movie for both of them. Can't say Shankar delivered but Rajini finally does it here.

The movie is set in 2018 with Rajini reprising his role as Dr. Vasikaran and as Chitti, Amy Jackson as Nila and Akshay Kumar as Pakshiraj. As known faces go, that's about it. This is one of my complaints regarding the movie in that it failed to call back Santhanam, Karunas and Aishwarya Rai. Its important for a sequel to let us know how connected they are to their predecessors and this movie fails to do so. This universe doesn't feel like the one in which Endhiran's events took place at all and that's a huge gripe.

As far as nostalgia goes, very little is used to hit us. We get a few familiar soundtracks, a couple of callbacks through dialogue and that's about it. I get that the movie tries its best to be original but the nostalgia card could have been played a bit more is what I felt.

Coming to the movie itself now, it has probably the most boring first half I've ever seen and I was really annoyed during the interval. Maybe some leeway can be given saying its all for build up but I found myself trying too hard to stop myself from falling asleep. It felt like they were trying to sell the movie purely by claiming that this has amazing CGI and a huge budget but without any kind of story. I felt cheated at the end of the first half and a little heartbroken seeing Rajini go through this dry phase. The plot was messy, the writing was weak and the pacing was horrible, I wanted it to just get over soon.

Then out of nowhere came a very structured, coherent, plot heavy and visually spectacular 2nd half. Pakshirajan's backstory had an extremely powerful message and had me invested in the movie again. Then came Thalaivar's 2.0, the Chitti we all came for. Superstar was back with the same charisma as he had in Endhiran giving us an amazing performance as 2.0 ready to take on Pakshirajan. The CGI got much better and polished in the second half. Even the comedy got way better, mostly coming from superstar and he single-handedly made things from boring and depressing to awesome and action-packed. The Climax was another amazing setpiece with fantastic CGI as well. There was another pleasant surprise towards the end teasing us a glimpse of what the next movie could be all about.

The story actually starts only in the second half and I was reminded of having to put up with 5 boring episodes of Game of Thrones then being rewarded with 2 amazing episodes. The comedy was really bad and the puns reminded me of the ones made by Mr. Freeze in that godawful Batman and Robin movie. I really missed Santhanam and Karunas and the casting could have easily been ten times better. Another disappointment was the music. Endhiran's songs and background scores were all so majestic and this feels like such a huge step down for Rahman. I'm not complaining that there should have been songs in the movie, in fact, I was shocked to see a Shankar movie without songs and happy that they decided to use the budget for CGI and not waste it on songs. Background scores could have been better and this totally doesn't feel like an ARR musical.

Overall, 2.0 fails to live up to the legacy of Endhiran, its another case of sequelitis but the second half is really what you're here for. Rajini's performance makes you forget its flaws and enjoy the movie for what it is. It does a terrible job at world building, suffers from poor writing but Pakshirajan's backstory, the social message and superstar's performance are a few things which are more than enough to make you want to watch it again in theatres. The social message is something we all should think about and make conscious attempts at eradicating the issue rather than talking about it over coffee. It hit me really hard and I guess that was the whole point of this movie and I give it full marks for that.

As a Tamilian and a movie buff, I'm proud to see our movie makers give so much importance to villains and make us take their side at times. Every great movie is remembered because of its villains and though 2.0 may not qualify as a great one, it did perfect justice to its villain and Akshay Kumar has done beautifully as Pakshirajan, a performance that will be remembered for ages to come. Villains starting to make sense almost makes us forget the fact that ultimately they're a villain and embrace the fact that they're human too. Thani Oruvan did that, Vikram Vedha did it and this one almost joins the club of great villains too.

VERDICT:
Fan in me: 7.5/10
Critic in me: 7/10

Another thing which surprised me was the fact that this movie had a post credit scene. Gone are the days where Marvel movies were the only ones that made you sit through credits, we're getting there very soon.

Fantastic beasts: The crimes of Grinderwald - The magic is wearing off

Harry Potter is one of the best franchises out there. Rowling stole our hearts with some of the best storytelling ever. It is now known that the fantastic beasts franchise will have a total of five movies in them and is a prequel to the Harry Potter series.

'Fantastic Beasts and where to find them' came out back in 2016 and let's be honest, most of us went to the theatres to just get to experience the world of Harry Potter again. The movie's hype was mainly because of the fact that it took place in the same universe of Harry Potter. All that aside it was still a decent movie with some good storytelling and writing. Eddie Redmayne was great as Newt Scamander and the beasts were great in them. The movie ended with the death of Credence, an obscurial.

One of the first few things we saw in the trailer to this movie was the return of Credence. This movie follows too many things, we see Newt trying to get back to Credence to save him, Grindelwald after Credence to get him on his side and the entire ministry of magic trying to get rid of him due to the fear of exposure of the magical world.

Johnny Depp - Gellert Grindelwald

Depp reprises his role as Grindelwald, the dark wizard who was kind of a magneto in the Harry Potter universe. He feels that the magical community has suffered enough trying to exist on their own in secret and that they should freely roam around everywhere. I've got to say, I really expected a memorable performance from Depp but I was bitterly disappointed and the storytelling will take the blame here. Grindelwald is supposed to be one of the most feared dark wizards, almost like a Voldemort but a bit earlier in time. His introduction scene was amazing but that's about it. Depp tried his best but Grindelwald really just felt like a typical Marvel movie villain who's just there because the movie needs a villain.

When Voldemort was on screen there was a fear factor among the heroes, his own death eaters, and the audience as well. Grindelwald, however, doesn't feel as scary as Ralph Fiennes. Can't blame the makeup, can't blame Depp I'll just have to put the blame on Rowling. The writing was bad, and apart from his introduction scene, almost every other scene had me batting my eyelashes in disappointment saying this isn't 'Gellert Grindelwald' definitely not the Grindelwald she spoke about in the Harry Potter series. As a huge fan of the franchise and as a huge fan of Grindelwald from the books I was just feeling disappointed in the end. 

Eddie Redmayne - Newt Scamander

The second best thing that happened to this movie was Newt. Eddie does another decent job as Newt. His love for the beasts hasn't changed and his relationship with Jacob gets better. Those two together give us some of the best moments. His silent love for Tina is something I'll never get tired of seeing and their chemistry is just awesome.

Newt's brother Theseus Scammander joins the cast as an Auror in the ministry. We get to know very little about their relationship and I guess it wasn't bad but at the same time there nothing worth remembering either. They share a couple of good moments but nothing great.

Newt's motivation, however, is awesome. It's clear that the writers wanted us to see some Harry Potter in Newt. His character is very similar to that of Harry and his relationship with Albus Dumbledore adds to this similarity even more. Great job by Eddie but too bad that the script was bad.

Jude Law - Albus Dumbledore

Initially, I wasn't sure this could work. Seeing John Watson as Albus Dumbledore was a bit confusing from the trailers but I've got to say, I never thought he would end up being the best part of the movie. Jude Law really did a fantastic job as Albus and now I can say no one could have done it any better.

His dialogues are excellent and they're as good as the ones from Harry Potter. Albus did give us some of the best quotes ever and they've managed to keep his writing neat. His interactions with Newt remind us a lot about the ones between Harry and Dumbledore. His scenes in Hogwarts brought tears to my eyes and was extremely satisfying, to say the least.

Too man missed opportunities

 This movie had so many opportunities to hit us hard with nostalgia and the scenes where Albus is in Hogwarts did exactly that. I don't know who played McGonagall but her voice was perfect. The moment I heard her, I knew it was McGonagall and two minutes later it was confirmed.

Rowling could have played the nostalgia card a bit more, true we saw Nicholas Flamel and Nagini but it just wasn't enough. They nailed the Hogwarts scenes, the soundtrack was great Dumbledore was great but it just wasn't enough for me and I'm sure any Potterhead would agree.

This movie is more about Credence's search for love and finding out who he truly is. There was a huge twist towards the ending and I'm still not sure how to feel about it. I guess there's a chance that the next movie could probably be good and definitely better than this one. Ezra Miller, however, does a decent job as Credence.

Poor handling of characters and messy plot

The plot was just confusing, there were too many characters I guess but the Harry Potter series is known to deal with these many characters with ease but the plot here was just all over the place. Grindelwald's rise, Newt's story, Credence's search, Dumbledore's purpose, Tina's story it was all just confusing and I couldn't know who the focus was on here. Sure, the CGI was great the soundtrack was good, Dumbledore and Newt were good and I liked how Queenie reacted to all this but other than that there wasn't anything worth remembering at all.

Should Rowling step aside?

Maybe it's time Rowling stepped aside from the Harry Potter series for a while? Maybe she should give her fans a chance, you can't expect epicness from someone who has been with the same franchise for over three decades. Nothing against Rowling here, I love her, I worship her but I feel like she should have made this more memorable. The reason fantastic beasts and where to find them was even nearly interesting was due to the fact that it was Rowling's story and I really thought she would nail Grindelwald's character here. All controversies aside I thought at least Depp would give us something worth remembering.

Nagini and Flamel wasted

I'm sure that the Potterheads would be disappointed after this. For instance, they showed Nagini in the trailers. She has a surprisingly long screentime but the only thing that was interesting about her was the fact that she will become one of the Horcruxes of Voldemort in the future. We don't get to see a proper backstory at all and removing her from the story would have made no difference at all. The next time I see Nagini on screen in one of these Harry Potter movies, I'll know that this snake used to be that clueless dumb person from fantastic beasts who didn't do anything and I could have lived better not knowing this. If they want to hit us with nostalgia they should have played it properly.

Even Nicholas Flamel for that matter didn't seem interesting. I really wished that they'd have built some sort of story for the both of them but unfortunately they didn't. Jacob was way more interesting than Flamel. Easter eggs could have been better too, but when they were there, it was great. They could have probably shown us some Voldemort Easter egg, Tom Riddle maybe or some Gaunt house storyline. Maybe throw in some Potters, Weasleys, they left all these cool storylines and they went for Nagini and Flammel and they were both equally boring and Nagini even more so.

As a fan, I really wanted to like it and if it had been at least a little better, I would have really supported it. I'm not saying that the story of the fantastic beasts should have been better than the Harry Potter stories, there's no way I'm seeing that happening but they should at least try not to spoil the legacy of it. I was so hyped for this but in the end, I was simply heartbroken to see such a weak portrayal of Grindelwald and such poor use of nostalgia and Easter eggs.

When I saw the Quidditch pitch and Hogwarts I was back to when I was six watching the philosopher's stone in theatres for the first time, my heart just couldn't take it. The movie ends well, showing us a glimpse of Grindelwald's army and opening the possibility of a Dumbledore versus Grinderwald showdown in the near future. Three more movies to go, I'm still expecting some magic and hopefully, Rowling and Yates can do a better job.

Verdict
Fan in me: 6.3/10
Critic in me: 5/10

If the idea of this franchise is to be a prequel to the Harry Potter series and to show us Dumbledore versus Grindelwald, they should have maybe started with their childhood, Ariana and Aberforth, and some Godric's hollow maybe. The timeline they chose was a bad one and if I see a prequel or a flashback in this series I'm really going to be pissed. Don't let us down the next time Rowling, or maybe give someone else a chance.

Vada Chennai - Rated A for 'Awesome"

Vetri Maran and Dhanush are the Scorsese and DiCaprio of Kollywood they say, at first I got offended hearing this, but after watching this masterpiece I feel like there was absolutely nothing wrong about that statement. Starring Dhanush, Andrea, Radha Ravi, Daniel, and Samudra Kani comes a movie set in North Chennai that connects the lives of these characters.

It's not uncommon to hear people say that the best Hollywood movies are too structured and that we need to focus on every single scene to understand it. We also hear people say that Tamil movies are too immature, that they're merely popcorn flicks and family films targetting the general audience just to make a few bucks. Here comes this thrilling Vetri Maran epic rated R which cares about nothing but the plot. I found myself focusing so much that it made me lose myself inside it. Such is the work out into making this. I'm happy to note that there was actual swearing in this and a bit proud that it was from my mother tongue. It's really satisfying to see how much mature Kollywood has become.

Dhanush has outdone himself with another award-worthy performance as Anbu. I just adored the character development here. Starting off as a carrom board player and rising to his position overcoming so many obstacles, being forced into difficult circumstances but still managing to stay sane and awesome. Aishwarya Rajesh is Padma, Dhanush's love interest in the movie. The acting is something that everyone nailed completely. Not a single complaint here and almost everyone has their golden moments.

Another thing I was totally in love with was the camera work. So many mindblowing longshots, I'm not sure how they managed to get it to work with so many actors. The makers decided to embrace the tradition of North Madras, be it the beach scenes, coming-of-age ceremonies, death ceremonies, showing the audience what it means to be a part of North Chennai. We all love the scenes where we get a glimpse of the whole of Paris when the camera is panned from the top of the Eiffel Tower or Dubai when the same is done from Burj Khalifa but little did I know that I can get the same feeling when the camera pans out from the top of a simple water tank, such was the creativity and the simplicity of some scenes which made this a visual spectacle.

This movie also qualifies as a thriller because of the twists in the plot. This movie really makes the audience look like a pack of fools because we really don't know what's coming our way. In the end, there's no single hero here, this is just an amazing story with many people and different motivations in it, no particular hero or villain and that's why I feel this is one of the most mature films of Tamil cinema. I'm happy that this is a trilogy and the hype for the second part has begun. 

The background score is great but in some places, the sound editing could have been better because the dialogue isn't clear with loud scores. The fact that there wasn't any song to distract us from the plot is another one of the many reasons to applaud this movie. I'm sure that I've failed to cover other amazing aspects of the movie, I also don't want to go into spoiler territory. I can say without a doubt that you won't be disappointed to see this in theatres and that missing this would be nothing less than a sin on your part. 

One of the many reasons for the success of modern Tamil movie masterpieces like Thani Oruvan, Vikram Vedha and Vada Chennai is the audience's response. We've matured so much now and we really shouldn't use Hollywood movies as a yardstick for comparison. Sure, we can compare this in some ways to 'The Departed' but should we? It's time to accept the fact that there are sensible people all over the world who can capture our attention for a couple of hours by directing a great movie but the reason Hollywood is standing out is simply due to the of the number of people watching those movies and their massive budgets. English is the universal language but it doesn't mean that it's the highest form of language there is. It's not the language, but it's always about the message and the message we take from Vada Chennai is that sometimes, Kollywood is just better than Bollywood and Hollywood. It's time to put a stop to wasting time defending who is better and time to appreciate the beauty that lies everywhere.

Verdict
9.8/10

2018 has undoubtedly been one of the best year ever for Tamil cinema, we've had a great year so far, let's hope Sarkar and Endhiran 2 can live up to their hype as well.

Ready Player One - Reality is boring

Steven Spielberg is always known for surprising audiences and he's back doing some crazy stuff with his latest movie and I consider myself unlucky to have missed a chance to watch it in theaters. Ready Player One is a movie about gaming and man it was totally out of this world. Spielberg is a legend no doubt but I didn't expect a masterpiece like this even from such a legend who is 71 years old, another person proving that age is just a number. This dude is just so adaptable, he's been making movies from the 70s, but he has consistently made the audience go crazy with Jaws, E.T., Indiana Jones, Schindler's List, Jurassic Park the list is just never-ending. In recent times he made Bridge of spies and the post but he has once again managed to capture the youth audience of 2018, especially the gamers here bringing us something so fresh.

THE CGI

I want to talk about this right away because this is probably some of the best CGI you're ever going to see. The movie is a visual treat right from the start and every scene is just going to make you stop in awe and wonder how they even managed to get something like that but a few seconds later, when you're trying to realize how amazing the previous scene was, there's going to be something even better coming your way the next scene. It's ironic that people usually criticize certain CGI scenes of movies complaining that some scenes looked like graphics from video games but this is literally a video game movie with some of the best graphics ever put to the big screen.

There's a scene where they show us king kong, a few dinosaurs, Joker, Harley Quinn, and the iron giant, but I've got to say, this version looks much better than the original versions. The CGI alone makes this a masterpiece but coupled with a great plot, great editing, and great writing, this was just out of the world. 

PLOT

So this is set in the year 2045 where civilization has given up trying to make the world a better place, people are just survivors, settled in small groups in many places. We follow Wade Wyatt, played by Tye Sheridan who lives with his aunt, almost giving us a Peter Parker kind of vibe. The people of 2045 are into this gaming world known as the Oasis, a virtual gaming world where you can create your avatar, and do whatever you want to. It's very similar to video games where you collect coins for your achievements and dying makes you start from scratch.

So the brains behind the Oasis was this guy called Halliday, played by Mark Rylance.  I feel like Halliday's character was inspired by a little bit of Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg. Mark dies after creating the Oasis but since he doesn't have a successor, he comes as his avatar Anorak and announces to the people of the Oasis that there are three specific missions which need to be completed after which the player would receive three different keys to unlock the ultimate treasure, the winner would be the next successor of the Oasis.

THE OASIS

So the Oasis is basically an escape for the people from reality where there's basically just enough for the people to make it through the day, almost giving us the feeling of dream sharing from inception where people go to sleep to be woken up. People are far more comfortable being in the Oasis. Basically, all they need to have is a virtual reality headset and a treadmil, they feel every punch, stabbing, and injury but in the end, all they have to do to come back to reality is remove the headset.

So the Oasis is about to be taken over by this typical corporate guy called Nolan Sorrento who is the CEO of the world's largest internet providers, Innovative online industries (IOI) who also turns out to be the main antagonist of the movie. In order to prevent the Oasis from losing its glory, Wyatt and his friends try their best to beat Sorrento at his game.

TYE SHERIDAN - WADE WYATT/PARZIVAL

Tye Sheridan has now played two characters who wear goggles, he was previously playing Scott Summers in X-Men Apocalypse, at this rate he might get to be the next Tom Hardy who is known for wearing masks in his best roles. His avatar, Parzival is one of the millions of avatars in the Oasis who tries to strategically win the three keys. We see him go head-on with Sorrento, attempting to rescue the Oasis. James Halliday is his idol and he knows almost everything about him. His puzzle solving ability gets him very close to the answers. But I couldn't help but get a Charlie and the chocolate factory vibe here, with Halliday at Willy Wonka's place and Wade at Charlie's place and the plot was basically the same.

Wade closely follows Halliday's life choices and wonders if they hold the key to finding the three keys. Of course, Wade can't do this without a group of friends. He meets Aech, Artemis, Sho and Daito in the Oasis who becomes close with Parzival (Wade). It's amazing how close they become without even meeting once in the real world. Together, they try to stop Sorrento from taking over the Oasis. Each of their contributions are valuable and there was something to like about everyone. The chemistry between Artemis and Wade was great and the fact that the makers of the movie decided to use an 11-year-old kid in the team as the best player was perfect because let's face it, most of those online gamers who kick our asses turn out to be just as old.

THE EASTER EGGS

Hidden inside each frame of this movie are plenty of Easter eggs and references to games and movies. Although I was able to catch a few of them I'm sure most of them slipped by me. Seriously I'm not sure even if the most intense movie and game fans were able to spot all of them. Watching this movie made me realize how much of a nerd Spielberg used to be. I'm sure there will be a few of us who will end up watching this multiple times just for the Easter eggs. I even learned a few things about some games which I found was exciting. One such thing I learned was the concept of Easter eggs where we get to see the first ever Easter egg in a game whose name I don't want to reveal. That game has revolutionized the whole world today, creating the concept of Easter eggs which are now used almost everywhere.

This is the godfather of all video game movies and the references here are another reason why you should watch this. It was nice to see characters like Clark Kent, Batman, Harley Quinn, Peter Parker, and Bruce Banner get mentioned a few times some of them were even shown on the big screen, the comic book fan in me couldn't help but rejoice on seeing these characters. I'm sure other comic book fans had their fair share of fun spotting those references. This movie has something for almost everyone in the audience, whether you're a movie buff, a gamer, a comic book fan or someone who just enjoys brilliant visuals.

MARK RYLANCE AND SIMON PEGG - JAMES HALLIDAY AND ODGEN MORROW 

I wanted to talk about two specific characters here, James Halliday played by Mark Ryllance and Odgen Morrow played by Simon Pegg. I've admired both these amazing actors for quite some time now. I love Mark Ryllance's performance in Bridge of Spies, also directed by Spielberg and Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk and he doesn't disappoint here. Rylance does a great job as Halliday, showing off exactly how a genius would behave. There's so much depth to his character and a perfect reason for why he is the boss of the world. The plot of this movie and the idea behind the oasis may all seem a bit complicated but the answers for his Easter eggs were just based on his life experiences.  His hairstyle gave us almost an Albert Einstein vibe. Another thing I loved was his avatar Anorak. Anorak's CGI was epic and it reminded me of Albus Dumbledore. Even after death, Halliday continues to live as Anorak. I absolutely loved James Halliday and I'm sure most of you will agree with me.

I can't be done without talking about Simon Pegg. He's barely here but whenever he does come, he absolutely nails it. He plays Odgen Morrow, Halliday's best friend and I loved how they worked together. Simon Pegg has also given us some memorable performances like Benji from the mission impossible series and Scotty from the Star Trek series. Here he plays Odgen Morrow and he's one of my favourite characters in this movie. His avatar was revealed towards the end and I was just spellbound after getting to know who he was. I hope to see more such great performances from Simon Pegg in the coming years and there was just so much to love about Morrow.

Overall, this movie was amazing, it had everything that you need to make an epic movie. There was a great plot, top notch CGI, drama, brilliant writing, so much for us to learn about the gaming world, plenty of Easter eggs for fans, some really awesome soundtracks by Alan Silvestri who is on a roll now after composing the soundtrack for Infinity war. There's very little not to like here and I am just not able to think of any negatives. Maybe one of the negatives is that it relies heavily on nostalgia and pop culture references, maybe some people won't be able to enjoy this as much as others and it also relies on the audience's focus, if you lose track of one scene, you might not get the next scene, other than that nothing much to complain. I cant wait to watch it again for multiple reasons. This will go down as one of the movies with the best CGI. 2018 is turning out to be great for action lovers, Infinity war, Mission Impossible Fallout, Ready Player One, the list just keeps getting better. I already love Spielberg but the way he managed to keep up with the modern era of gamers and movie fans is just another thing we love about him now, truly a legend.

Verdict

Fan in me: 9.5/10

Critic in me: 9.5/10

T.J. Miller has a role here too, though we don't see his real self, his avatar, I-ROk who is supposed to be a villain turns out to be the comic relief. That's probably how T.J. Miller would be as an avatar. Too little to complain about here, watch it and get ready to be spellbound, Spielberg is the best and this will be another Spielberg classic. His list is just never ending. Looking forward to seeing more such amazing movies from him.