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| Pixels Movie Poster Columbia Pictures |
The plot is as mindless as you might expect. It is loosely based on an animated 2010 French short film.
In the summer of 1982, Sam Brenner played by Adam Sandler and Will Cooper played by Kevin James are thirteen-year-olds who love playing arcade video games and who didn't back then in a time before home gaming consoles and PC's. Brenner enters an arcade game world championships cheered on by his friends who all stand in awe of his natural ability at these games, a skill based on his ability to see patterns, a plot point that will recur later in the story. It is here that we are introduced to Ludlow Lamonsoff played by Josh Gad and Eddie Plant played by Peter Dinklage who we all know as Tyrion Lannister from Game Of Thrones. A recording of the championship is made and the contestants are told that it will be placed aboard a spacecraft that is being sent out of the solar system.
The craft is intercepted by an alien race and surprise surprise the recording is taken to be a declaration of war. They send waves of creatures based on classic arcade games like Galaga and Pacman to attack and Earth must turn to the arcade champions of the 80's to save the planet. Queue our brave hero's who must step up to save us all from this alien threat and at the same time overcome their own personal demons to do so.
Kevin James as the president is monumentally miscast and all you can think while cringing through his performance is that he has a loyal in friend in Adam Sandler, too loyal. James as president is even more unbelievable than the plot and considering that just doing that quick synopsis of the plot made me want to throw up a little, that is saying something.
They say that the human eye has around 576 megapixels. There are moments whilst watching this film that you will be longing for 576 million pins to poke every single one of them out, but sanity prevails and you continue to sit through this film consoling yourself with the thought that at least it isn't the 2005 movie Bewitched you are enduring.
Like nearly all Sandler films putting aside all the hate this film will undoubtedly generate they are generally entertaining in a moronic and colourful way. They are fitting content for a dumbed down popcorn multiplex world. Some people are disappointed by his films because they think he is capable of so much more. I think it is better to assume this type of film is the benchmark for all his productions and then just accept them for the empty minded shallow meaningless dross they are. Enjoy your Megagulp drink and supersize popcorn and let the last bit of intelligence you may possess drain away as you watch this paean to our brave new mediocracy roll before your eyes.
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| 1.5 Stars |
Sean Atherton-Feeney ©
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