Ready Player One is okay, but not up to the normal thoughtful standard of a Spielberg film. The script is just flat, is nowhere near what it might have been in terms of source material, and also has conflicting ideas over theme.
For example, it could have really made something of how virtually you can be someone totally unlike your real-life self and even joke about that.. but when push comes to shove, pretty much everyone is cast according to type cliches and especially the identity of Artemis is about as whitebread as you can get, with the most insignificant birth issue you could use for a film like this.
The film tries to have its cake and eat it too -- "oh no, being online all the time is bad for your well-rounded health" while literally glorifying being online throughout the film and slapping on a lame limit at the end (shutting down the Oasis two days a week to honor the "real world" -- leaving five virtual days including the weekend... so does this suggest the "real world" is actually more important??)
Finally, what tries to pass as creativity is simply the regurgitation of pop culture pastiche -- throwing in a bunch of familiar references often just in passing (the Sphere of Annihilation from D&D's "Tomb of Horrors", Krill's throwing blade, the DeLorean, Mech Godzilla, the list goes on and on). Even worse is when the film runs totally against the movie themes it is cribbing from, showing they are just stealing the imagery without actually grasping the meaning behind the visuals -- the most blatant case of this is The Iron Giant, who yes does make a spectacular 3D rendering and everyone loves him.... while using him as a violent weapon in this film, when the whole point of the ending of The Iron Giant is that he might have been designed as a weapon but he was more than that and could choose his own destiny (and he chooses to be a protector, not a destroyer) -- it was the whole point of that freaking film, to a tear-generating level. I do happen to be a pop culture nerd, but I think it works far better in parody (e.g., The Simpsons), not in a more serious film that seeks to generate internal importance of character and plot. You end up just pushing around the shadows of things, pretending they are substantial in themselves, while meanwhile diluting or draining the actual essence of them.
I think the high point is simply Mark Rylance's portrayal of eccentric tech zillionaire Willy Wonka... sorry, I mean, James Halladay. He does give a unique, quality performance. But very else about the film is actually thoughtful or groundbreaking.
