by Frank Calvillo
Earlier last month, I wrote an editorial on how the original summer blockbuster was a thing of the past and how the months between May and August were now populated with nothing but sequels and reboots. In said editorial, I wrote that Pixels seemed to be one of the only bright spots of the 2015 summer movie season thanks to its fun and unorthodox plot which, believe it or not, came from someone’s own imagination.
I’m pleased to say, my hunch was right.
Pixels opens in 1982 when friends Sam, Will, and Ludlow find themselves premier video game champions after competing at a world video game competition. Years later, there lives have taken different paths. Sam (Adam Sandler) is a tech installer, Will (Kevin James) is President of the United States, and Ludlow (Josh Gad) is a recluse living in his grandmother’s basement.
When a series of unexplainable attacks begin to occur in various parts of the world, orchestrated by aliens who have taken the shape of beloved characters from classic arcade games, the world as everyone knows it seems doomed. However, thanks to their unrivaled video game skills, Sam, Will, and Ludlow, along with Sam’s rival Eddie (Peter Dinklage) and a beautiful army Lieutenant (Michelle Monaghan), find themselves in real life video games as they try to stop the likes of Pac-Man and Tetris from destroying the planet.
There will be a few people who will mistakenly consider Pixels to be another Sandler movie. True, this is a Happy Madison production, and yes, Sandler does occasionally manage to slip in some of his usual one-liners here and there, but that’s where the comparisons end.
Pixels is very much its own creation, boasting plenty of impressive animation sequences and truly funny moments.
There’s nothing but fun to be had at watching the many video game characters, loved by many children of the 80s and 90s, show up to take over the planet. The way they’ve been revamped by the filmmakers is truly a wonder to look at, and the battle sequences are done with a true panache and flair that make an audience member feel like they are part of a life-size video game. Nowhere is this more true than in the Pac-Man sequence which sees Sandler and company racing all along New York in colored Fiats, or in the show-stopping finale where the film’s effects team pull out all the stops.
The cast has a true blast in Pixels, with Dinklage giving the film’s most scene-stealing and uproarious performance.
But Pixels is a movie about spectacle, not characters, and thankfully director Chris Columbus knows that. No stranger to audience entertainment after helming the likes the Home Alone series and the first two Harry Potter installments, Columbus knows how to keep Pixels’ swiftness and excitement alive while making sure the film’s comedic beats remain well timed.
To call Pixels a throwback is putting it mildly. The film is dripping with 80s references beyond just the video game characters on display. The most notable and fun is of course the alien messages which come to earth in the shape of 80s pop culture figures such as Madonna and Ricardo Montalban.
But more than just 80s references, Pixels is a throwback to the time of moviegoing when studios didn’t have remakes and sequels to fall back on. Its recalls a time when the term tentpole didn’t make the movie lover roll their eyes or slap their forehead. Instead, Pixels makes a die-hard movie fan both mourn for a time now gone, while also discovering a glimmer of hope which says it just might return.
