Pixels (film) : not great but Sandler still makes money
When this film was announced all of us 80's video game fans (or who were at least alive in the 80's) rejoiced. It appeared as though we were going to get a fun ride down memory lane revisiting all the classic games that although kinda dumb today, were exceptionally revolutionary at the time. Sadly, and a bit unsurprisingly, this Sandler movie was not very good.
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How is it that Sandler can be so continually panned by critics and yet all of his films make BANK. I mean, even Jack and Jill, which is highly regarded as being the worst movie ever made and won all the Razzies made 150 million dollars. It seems as though Sandler can release just about anything and the people flock to the theaters despite having been disappointed time and time again by the same person. I think it is because there is always a chance that he is going to appeal to some people, especially boys who refuse to become men, like myself.
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The story starts out with Sam Brenner (Sandler, well not in this part of the movie but later it is) participating in the world championships of videogames vs Eddie Plant (Peter Dinklage.) Eddie wins and the videotape of the games is put in a time capsule and rocketed into space (because we do stuff like that.)
Years later, video-game like attacks start happening to the earth because aliens have found the video and emulate the elements of it in order to take over the planet. This is actually pretty fun because all the classic games are starting to unfold in the various attacks that happen.
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The movie is not good but i would still recommend that anyone who used to look forward to arcades armed with a pocket full of quarters to go ahead and see it anyway. These simplistic games of the 80's are very nicely CGI'd into the movie and that explains a lot about how they managed to spend nearly $100 million in the making of this film.
This movie, like most of Sandler's films is incredibly childish and I think if you appreciate that sort of thing you might still enjoy it. It was at times difficult to watch but for me the 80's nostalgia and the way in which Sandler doesn't try to cater to the PC crowd is always a bit refreshing. Despite being nominated for all the wrong awards (the Razzies) and pretty much universally panned by critics, it managed to pull in nearly $250 million globally. Many people think Sandler movies are dumb. But the dumb ones always make tons of money and his "critically acclaimed" serious film make very little or lose money. If you were Sandler... what would you do?
I give Pixels a score of
"watch it only if you were playing video games in the 80's"
"watch it only if you were playing video games in the 80's"
Thanks for the review! I really wanted to watch this movie when I first started seeing the trailers. Literally the day that I decided to go and watch it, some friends of mine told me it was awful and not to bother.
As I've said before, Adam Sandler is really hit and miss with me. I might give it a watch when I have nothing else to do. ;p
You know, I had always heard absolutely awful things about this movie but it was streaming free last year and because I did enjoy the short film this was based on decided to give it a shot.
Somehow it was worse than I expected.
First, I could care less how much a movie makes. Sandler has been telling the same core story for years and I'm tired of it. Oh cool, another film where he plays an emotionally stunted man child who grows up slightly over the film and ends up with a girl way outside of his league. Cool.
But I can deal with another predictable and forgettable Adam Sandler movie, but there was something conceptually offensive with this movie that left me feeling... I don't know quite how to say it. How about this. I felt like this was a studio cash grab cynically aimed at cashing in on video game nostalgia without having either respect for what they were cashing in on. It's ambivalent to its source material. It's lazy. No one looks like they are having fun. Instead of telling a joke, they just go "hey, you like PacMan right? Well there he is!" It's a movie so lazy, cynical, and unfunny the only movie I feel is close to its unique brand of awfulness is The Emoji Movie.
Oh, and Josh Gad falls in love with Q-Bert. Sexually.
I like your scoring system, I give Pixels as score of "my quarter got stuck in the arcade machine and now I want a refund."
Your review is better than mine lol. I like the quarter getting stuck reference too.
There was nothing particularly good about this film other than the nostalgia. I think if it was playing in the background and you were doing something else also at the time it would probably serve its purpose best just like that.
I did play games in the 90's, but I still have to give this one a pass. Thanks for the great review though. If I wanted to watch an awesome movie about 80's video games I would watch "The Last Starfighter" Robert Preston is the bomb! :) Thanks for sharing this review though. I value your insight and commentary :)