Books have always made for excellent source material for movies. Never before has that shone as true as it did with “Ready Player One,” the latest in a long line of movies from visionary director Steven Spielberg, which debuted in theaters across America on Thursday, March 29.

The nearly two and a half hour movie follows Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) as he begins a hunt for a hidden treasure to take control of the Oasis, a virtual-reality world where anything is possible. Also among the cast are “Rogue One” star Ben Mendelsohn, “Ouija” star Olivia Cooke, “Deadpool” star TJ Miller, writer Lena Waithe, former Spielberg collaborator Mark Rylance and legendary actor Simon Pegg.

The first shot in “Ready Player One” is a colorless cityscape. This shot, along with numerous others in the “real world” are intentionally left bland and lifeless, so as to contrast with the bright and colorful computer-generated world of the Oasis. Throughout the entirety of the film, color slowly bleeds into the real world as the central theme is made more clear. That real life is better than any fantasy humanity creates.

“Ready Player One” boasts a massive amount of CGI, most notably in two major areas: every part of the Oasis, which was almost completely computer generated, and the aging and de-aging of some characters. The Oasis was designed to look intentionally fake and CGI’d in, as it is a near-perfect virtual simulation of life, albeit an incredibly life-like one. The aging and de-aging of actors like Rylance and Pegg was near flawless and truly managed to showcase Industrial Lights & Magic’s progress in the field, which last saw controversy when the company attempted to recreate Peter Cushing for 2016’s “Rogue One.”

When it comes to adapting a novel or play, the cast is of paramount importance. If the actors cannot breathe life into the characters, then the entire movie falls apart. Fortunately for “Ready Player One,” Sheridan truly showcases what any person would feel when meeting their idol, and Mendelsohn captures the essence of a businessman who was thrown into an unknown world. Whereas Miller is actually intimidating while still sounding like a big, lovable nerd.

This movie features a gross misuse of talent, which is the singular flaw the film. Letitia Wright, the star of “Black Panther” and “Avengers: Infinity War,” is listed as being a background character for a few scenes. Wright displayed immense talent in “Black Panther” and would have made for an amazing casting call as one of the main characters.

This film also stands out due to its incredible musical score. Replacing John Williams due to scheduling conflicts, classic ‘80s movie “Back to the Future” composer Alan Silvestri managed to, ironically enough, employ parts of Williams’ most famous scores to give the movie a true ‘80s feel. While Williams himself would have been amazing, his presence can still be felt thanks to the unmistakable talent of Silvestri.

As a novel, “Ready Player One” is famous for the amount of ‘80s pop culture references it has within its covers and Spielberg does not fail to maintain this for the movie. Although he does make the choice to include all of pop culture, instead of focusing only on ‘80s pop culture. This leaves hundreds, if not thousands of easter eggs for fans of gaming, movies and children of the 1980s to hunt for. The number of easter eggs in “Ready Player One” is of such a large number that it is near impossible to catch all of them in a single viewing and to try to find all of the references would leave one with a massive headache.

“Ready Player One” is an excellent movie. There is no denying that. When Steven Spielberg and Industrial Lights & Magic combine their might, nothing but greatness can follow. Spielberg was a core part of the 1980s, with many of his films from the time being cult classics today. He was the perfect director for the challenge of adapting “Ready Player One” and he made sure it served as a faithful adaptation of its source material. That, combined with the amount of nostalgia and pure enjoyment families and fans of both the novel and the 1980s will enjoy, earns it a perfect 10/10.