Steven Spielberg is often credited as the father of the summer blockbuster, thanks to his mega-hit “Jaws” in 1975. He’s worked effortlessly between prestige dramas and popcorn entertainment for the entirety of his career (sometimes in the same year, like 1993, which saw the release of “Jura ssic Park” and the year’s Best Picture winner, “Schindler’s List”), but his latest film “Disclosure Day” finds him back in a world that his name has become synonymous with at the multiplex. Give or take “The BFG,” Spielberg hasn’t had a big summer blockbuster in theaters since 2008’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” and the buzz leading up to the release of “Disclosure Day” feels like a trumpet-lined red carpet for the return of summer’s king. There’s an inherent sense of nostalgia baked into “Disclosure Day,” which does a good amount of heavy-lifting for some moviegoers because it brings Spielberg back to his roots. On top of its release date, Spielberg has always been interested in the portrayal of aliens in his films. From “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” to “E.T.,” he’s has never been shy about sharing his interest about the possibility of life beyond what is known. That both helps and hinders the execution of “Disclosure Day.”  The film begins at a wrestling match, where cybersecurity expert Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) is confronted in the audience and threatened into releasing the backpack he is carrying. He is taken out into the parking lot where Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), the shadowy head of a company called Wardex, demands a device back and attempts to stop Daniel from telling everyone on planet Earth that extraterrestrial life is among them.  Daniel is immediately on the run, trying to escape the grasp of Noah and his gang of henchmen, who are determined to get the device and silence Daniel and his girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson). Concurrently, “Disclosure Day” introduces Kansas City meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt, who is about as enthusiastic to deliver the weather report as Amanda Seyfried’s “Mean Girls” character, except one does the job professionally and one does it just because she feels she has the power to predict the weather). When Margaret begins speaking with what appears to be a mixture of gibberish and clicks, she is bound to cross paths with Daniel. The first 45 minutes of “Disclosure Day” are wonderfully ambiguous and play like a 1970s-inspired paranoid thriller more than a Spielberg alien blockbuster. The screenplay, written by David Koepp and based on a story conceived by Spielberg, keeps specificities in the dark, which makes it feel like “Disclosure Day” could go in a number of different directions that might feel like a new spin on familiar territory. Sadly, that isn’t the case. When “Disclosure Day” pivots into a chase thriller, everything starts to feel entirely conventional and the excitement of Spielberg returning to what made him who he is starts to feel like he’s just replaying the hits. That is certainly bound to satisfy some, but it almost begins to feel like Spielberg is singing in his own cover band.  Blunt’s challenging role as Margaret is the stand-out among the cast. It’s a high-wire, physical performance that demands a lot of the actor, and she shines in contrast next to O’Connor’s one-note performance as the thinly-drawn Daniel. As the movie’s bad guy, Firth grumbles and shouts orders, and Colman Domingo is fairly wasted as Daniel’s lifeline over the phone.  The entire cast probably would have read one line just to work with the legendary director, since it’s Spielberg who is the movie’s true star. His last two movies, 2021’s “West Side Story” (his best since 2002’s “Catch Me if You Can”), and 2022’s self-aggrandizing “The Fablemans” were financial misses lost in a pandemic haze (though each film managed to rack up hefty tallies of award nominations). “Disclosure Day” feels like a response to those films’ lack of connection with audiences and serves as a reminder more than it does a good movie. Matthew Passantino is a freelance film critic and a member of the Critics Choice Association and the Greater Western New York Film Critics Association. The post REVIEW | ‘Disclosure Day’ appeared first on CITY Magazine. Arts. Music. Culture.. ...read more read less