Pixels: Movie Review

One of the biggest assets for the cast of “Pixels” was having Chris Columbus (“Adventures in Babysitting”, “Home Alone”, “Mrs. Doubtfire”) behind the camera. Though the director’s filmography does have a couple of duds (“I Love You, Beth Cooper”,
“Rent”), his films are generally enjoyable. I would say it has been 11 years since I referred to a film that stared Adam Sandler as enjoyable as (2001’s “Spanglish”). This doesn’t mean that “Pixels” is a great movie, but it is by far the best comedy Sandler has headlined in over a decade.

Brenner (Adam Sandler), Cooper (Kevin James), and Ludlow (Josh Gad) were video game kings back in 1982. Brenner could see the patterns in games like Pac-Man, Galaga, and Centipede that made him the best. Thirty-three years later Brenner works as a home entertainment installer and Cooper is now the President of the United States (though the country doesn’t like him very much).

When the world comes under attack by aliens that are using 1982 video game creations, it is up to Brenner, Cooper, and Ludlow to save the day. However, they also need the help of Eddie (Peter Dinklage) who was the only person to beat Brenner at Donkey Kong. Yes, I completely aware of how incredibly stupid this all sounds, but as a fan who grew up on all of these games, I thoroughly enjoyed watching a super-sized Pac-Man demolish New York City. If you are wondering why the aliens sent video game characters to destroy us? Well, they learned about them in a pop-culture video that was shot into space in hopes of reaching intelligent life. Apparently the aliens took that video as a threat.

The humor in “Pixels” is just as juvenile as most Sander/James comedies yet the crudity is kept on the low end. This is definitely aimed towards kids through the parents will get more of the classic game references. The final battle pulls out all the stops and we get to see many of our classic joystick friends. Yes, even Paperboy and Burgertime make an appearance. Michelle Monagham is in on the action as well s Violet but she is really there more to serve as Brenner’s possible love interest. Peter Dinklage is easily the best part of “Pixels”. Unfortunately he has much less screen-time than his co-stars. My guess is that he was busy working on “Game of Thrones”.

If you grew up with these classic video games, then then you might fined some enjoyment in “Pixels”. It might even give you the urge to play those arcade classics again. I just wish as much effort was put into the jokes as they were put into the game character renderings.

By: Marc Ferman