Ready Player One is, for the lack of a better term, the sum total of the era we currently exist in and have grown up on. It is a masterful film, not only for those who are masters of pop culture but also for those who only skim the surface. This is Steven Spielberg at his greatest, most magical, uncompromising and most effective, barring none.

Ryan Coogler crafts an intricate work of art, sewing African tribal cultures of old with the swanky, shiny lifestyle of new, much like how the Wakandans sew Vibranium into their clothes. From the fast-paced action on the streets of Busan to high-stakes one-on-one fights on the side of a waterfall, everything is expertly crafted to honor African history and culture, without the appropriation. He builds on the series mythos most faithfully and builds upon it, giving Marvel and Black Panther fans something truly to look forward to as the world prepares for the culmination of every Marvel film to date: Infinity War.