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In the ‘80s, the local arcade was the place to be on Saturday afternoons. All of the kids were there, hanging out in the noisy darkness, lining up their quarters for a chance to play Pac-Man, Space Invaders, or Donkey Kong. If you were one of those kids, there’s a pretty good chance that you’ll enjoy the geeky retro action of Pixels.
Pixels poses a terrifying scenario: aliens are invading, and the fate of the world lies in Adam Sandler’s hands.
As a kid, Sandler’s Sam Brenner was an arcade game champion with unlimited potential—but he now spends his days installing TVs and setting up video game consoles. When an alien race interprets a video of old arcade games as a declaration of war and responds with a series of massive video game-style attacks, Sam finally gets his chance to use his gaming expertise for the greater good. And he teams up with his old gaming friends—and his old rival, Fireblaster (Peter Dinklage)—to save the planet.
Adam Sandler is probably the last person you’d expect to star in a big, flashy action movie—but that’s just a part of the film’s quirky action-comedy appeal. This isn’t the typical summer blockbuster, with impossibly handsome, bulked-up young stars battling some ruthless villain. Instead, it’s an action movie for the other guys. Here, it’s up to the geeks and gamers and creepy conspiracy theorists to put their skills to good use, fighting the video game villains of their youth.
Veteran director Chris Columbus works with his comic cast to give the film a good balance of action and laughs. The action sequences are clever and fun—and anyone who fondly remembers the classic games of the ‘80s will love seeing their favorite arcade icons in all of their glowing, pixilated glory (even if they happen to be destroying New York City in the process). Though the story loses a bit of its steam toward the end, there are so many beloved games to choose from that the gimmick never really gets old.
Meanwhile, Columbus also manages to keep Sandler and his crew in check. While the characters still have their outrageous moments, it’s clear that they weren’t given free reign. And the result is the kind of amusingly sophomoric insanity of earlier Sandler films. It’s wacky and often wildly over-the-top—and some of the jokes still fall flat—but it rarely goes so far that it feels obnoxious. It’s just an enjoyably ridiculous romp through retro pop culture.
Of course, the old-school premise may not have quite the same appeal for younger viewers, and if you can’t stand Sandler’s comic style, his latest film probably won’t win you over. But Pixels is a fun-filled adventure for the arcade kids of the ‘80s. If you still remember spending your Saturdays with Pac-Man, you’ll want to gather up your old gaming buddies and check it out.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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