Pixels
PIXELS (12)
D: Chris Columbus
Columbia/Happy Madison/1492 (Adam Sandler, Chris Columbus,
Mark Radcliffe & Allen Covert)
US 2015
106 mins
Comedy/Science Fiction
W: Tim Herlihy & Timothy Dowling [based on the short film
by Patrick Jean]
DP: Amir Mokri
Ed: Hughes Winborne
Mus: Henry Jackman
Adam Sandler (Sam Brenner), Kevin James (President Will
Cooper), Michelle Monaghan (Lt. Col. Violet Van Patten), Josh Gad (Ludlow Lamonsoff), Peter Dinklage (Eddie Plant), Brian Cox (Adm. James Porter), Sean Bean (Cpl. Hill)
Pixels has one running joke and even manages to get that
wrong. The title should be Voxels.
An alien species misinterprets footage of a 1982 video game
competition as a declaration of war and attacks the planet with a series of 8-bit creations, including Space Invaders and Pac-Man. The Earth's fate is in the hands of tech guy Adam Sandler
and his geek posse, who participated in the 1982 arcade tournament and the only people on the planet who know the gameplay patterns.
If that sounds far-fetched, this movie also presents a world
where Kevin James is US president.
Based on a short film of the same name, this slice of
ridiculousness isn't completely without amusement, especially in the scene where the gang take on an evil Pac-Man, but the sheer lunacy of it all, paired with bad stereotypes, jokes which go
nowhere, a flawed nostalgia throwback and some truly irritating performances completely counterbalance the entertainment factor.
The biggest enigma is who this actually appeals to. It's
likely to be appreciated most by 12 year olds who played 8-bit computer games during the 1980's.
4/10
