An idea taken from the desires of many becomes an effort likely to satisfy the fantasies of no one in Pixels, as video game playing prowess finds a real-life application in a battle against intergalactic invaders. The Chris Columbus (Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief)-directed, Tim Herlihy (Grown Ups 2) and Timothy Dowling (This Means War)-written feature may be based on the 2010 short film of the same name by Patrick Jean; however it feels like a fitting vehicle for its star. Just as Adam Sandler (Men, Women & Children) continues to coast through his current career output portraying characters in a state of arrested development, his latest offering takes a concept with potential and does the bare minimum needed to turn nostalgia and nerd culture into a lazy take on, among other things, the monster movie genre.
Sandler plays Sam Brenner, a middle-aged divorced man installing home entertainment equipment for a living, who happens to be the life-long best friend of U.S. President William Cooper (Kevin James, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2). As teenagers back in 1982, the latter convinced the former to showcase his button-pressing skills at the first-ever world video game championships, only for a ruthless competitor to emerge victorious. Now, decades after footage of the tournament was beamed into space, the pals, fellow gamer turned conspiracy theorist Ludlow Lamonsoff (Josh Gad, The Wedding Ringer), and their one-time nemesis Eddie Plant (Peter Dinklage, TV’s Game of Thrones) must fight aliens intent on destroying the earth through actual incarnations of classic arcade titles.
Such large-scale manifestations of Galaga, Centipede, Pac-Man, and Donkey Kong, as rendered with affection, an eye for detail, on-point special effects, and an awareness of everything from the iconic creature features to the comedic efforts such as Ghostbusters that they’re aping, rank among the highlights of a film happy with competently persevering rather than winning — over audiences, or when it comes to doing anything distinctive with its central conceit — as its ’80s soundtrack of all the expected songs typifies. As Pixels jumps through levels of uncomplicated conflict, working towards a big showdown and working through well-worn notions of banding together, overcoming differences and seeing beyond past failures, it goes through the motions as much as its lead.
Indeed, few performers show less on-screen enthusiasm than Sandler of late, a tendency he hasn’t addressed here. If he can’t feign the interest in his own work needed to offer up more than his usual schtick — despite clearly having some stakes in the film’s success given that he was involved off-screen in Pixels development — then those looking on can hardly be asked to do the same. Continuing to stick to type by sharing screen time with James only emphasizes that they’ve both been there and done this, while playing opposite the feature’s best performer — Michelle Monaghan (The Best of Me) as Lieutenant Colonel Violet van Patten, a military weapons designer, recent divorcee and Brenner’s requisite love interest — similarly does him few favours. Elsewhere, the usually excellent Dinklage overacts, the often-average Gad continues his own trend, and the likes of Sean Bean (Jupiter Ascending) and Jane Krakowski (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) are wasted.
That the movie’s writers are both Sandler veterans, with Herlihy’s tenure spanning back to Billy Madison and now including ten films featuring the star, perhaps explains the indulgence of the actor’s standard proclivities, as well as the uncomfortable mix of both celebrating and making fun of geeks and gaming that springs. Thankfully, Colombus’ family fare pedigree on the first two Home Alone and Harry Potter offerings helps pitch the movie at younger rather than older viewers, as does the inclusion of van Patten’s son (Matt Lintz, Kill the Messenger) as a conveniently deployed audience surrogate, though the material itself often makes that distinction uncertain. As a product of adults attempting to share their love of a previous form of a popular pastime with the next generation, Pixels too often assumes fondness is enough retain youthful attention; as a heightened, sci-fi skewed adventure through a subculture, it just as willingly and frequently relies upon stereotypes and gags aimed at the lowest common denominator. Either way, it results in a floundering film, and one unlikely to leave an imprint on current or remembered childhood memories.
Rating: 2 stars out of 5
Pixels
Director: Chris Columbus
USA, 2015, 106 mins
Release date: 10 September
Distributor: Sony
Rated: PG
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