Futuristic thrill ride entertains and fascinates

Tye Sheridan in Steven Spielberg’s latest sci-fi adventure

NEW YORK—My daughter has been the best date to everything. Following last Wednesday’s performance (which happened to be show No. 8 of our work week), she and I headed to dinner with my manager, Josh Pultz. They were both craving Japanese barbecue, so we went to Gyu-kaku on West 44th Street to satisfy our yens. Nicole was in charge of cooking the assorted meats, while Josh and I watched and ate. After dinner, Nic and I headed to the movie theater to take in a showing of “Ready Player One.”

Directed by Steven Spielberg, the film based on Ernest Cline’s novel is set in the distant future, where humans can escape their daily lives by jumping into the Oasis, a virtual-reality haven where you can be whatever you want to be, and do whatever you want to do.

Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) is a kid from the “Stacks,” a slum composed of trailer parks stacked on top of one another. He began living with his aunt after his parents passed away, and his only pleasure lies in the Oasis, where he’s found his best friends: Aech (Lena Waithe), Daito (Win Morisaki) and Sho (Philip Zhao). It’s also where Wade (as his avatar, Parzival) meets Samantha Cook, also known as Art3mis (played by Olivia Cooke).

Oasis’ eccentric creator James Halliday (Mark Rylance) has left his entire fortune and control over this virtual world to the person who finds an Easter egg he has hidden in the game. To reach it, players have to acquire three keys—each key accessible only by clues that aren’t easy to figure out.

However, Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn) wants the keys to the kingdom and that Easter egg for himself, so he hires players whose sole purpose is to play the game, find the keys and acquire the prize for himself.

The film is rife with references to the ’70s and ’80s, all of which made the little kid in me extremely happy. There’s the DeLorean from “Back to the Future,” a Gundam suit, a Rubik’s cube (renamed for Robert Zemeckis), a Tyrannosaurus rex from “Jurassic Park,” various video games, the boom box from “Say Anything,” and scenes from Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining.”

The movie has its share of cheesy moments, but I’m not sure if it was Spielberg’s intention to make this high art. Instead, it’s full of fast-moving action sequences designed to make you chomp down on your popcorn faster.

Adults who grew up in the ’80s will squeal with delight at just how much of their childhood memories were shoehorned into 130 minutes, while younger audiences will enjoy the 3D animation sequences and special effects.

That said, the performances by the young leads show much promise. And of course, seeing two featured Asian actors made my “let’s have representation” heart extremely happy.

Despite a few plot flaws, “Ready Player One” is a futuristic thrill ride you will enjoy. This is entertainment, pure and simple. My daughter and I thoroughly had a great time, and will probably return to the theater to watch once more.

This time, I’m going to take notes to see how much more of my childhood I can spot before checking for complete lists online.