Pixels

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Chris Columbus

July 24, 2015

Classic arcade game video streams are intercepted by aliens, who mistake them for a declaration of war and launch an attack on Earth in the form of classic arcade video games. President Will Cooper (Kevin James), realizing that he must employ a similar strategy, enlists his childhood friend, former video-game champion and home-theater installer Sam Brenner (Adam Sandler), to lead a group of retro arcade players and a military specialist (Michelle Monaghan) in an all-out battle to save the planet.

When video games first became popular, people would pump quarters into them at their neighborhood arcade and eagerly anticipate having their three initials displayed on the screen for all to see. Pixels does a good job of portraying that sense of wonderment. This occurs primarily as a result of Pixels playing into our preconceived notions of our core quartet, rather than anything like great acting. A White House military expert played by Michelle Monaghan, Sandler is the cute nerd you know for sure will win over. The antisocial offender is Peter Dinklage. The conspiracy theorist who lives alone is Josh Gad. And Kevin James is the lovely president with sinking approval ratings.

If you’re a ranting movie critic or any other person who has made the actor a popular target these days, it seems like ripping on Adam Sandler is the in thing to do. Although Pixels won’t end the cycle, Sandler fans and others who are willing to give themselves over to a movie with nothing in the way of a narrative but much of Sandler’s earlier humor and charm should give it a chance. In the end, Pixels is a flawed movie that offers just enough enjoyment to be worthwhile.

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