Pixels

Pixels is a stupid movie. But thanks to its digitized characters, it wasn't a complete loss. Press start or read on to find out more.

In 1982, Sam Brenner and Will Cooper were Kings of their local Arcade. That all ended when Sam lost to the smug Eddie Plant in the Video Game World Championship. Years later, Sam (Adam Sandler) installs cable while Will (Kevin James) is the President of the United States (Why? I don't know.). They're both stuck in their lives. And then Aliens - who resemble characters from 80's Arcade standards such as Pac-Man, Galaga and Donkey Kong - attack!

Why? The Video Game World Championship was taped for a NASA Probe. The Aliens who picked it up thought the game footage was a declaration of war. So they attack Earth with video game characters. They'll leave Earth alone or destroy it depending on which side wins three rounds first.

So Sam has to lead a team to beat the Space Invaders. Also on the team are Will, Plant (Peter Dinklage), conspiracy theorist Ludlow Lamonsoff (Josh Gad) and weapons developer Col. Violet van Patten (Michelle Monaghan).

The story has its roots in the much-simpler 2010 Internet short created by Patrick Jean. The feature's closest analogue to the short is the climactic assault by the Video Game horde on Washington DC. Let's see how they did expanding the story.

Much of the humor comes from its stupid characters. It's some times legitimately funny, like the increasingly preposterous suggestions coming from the straight-faced Army guys in the War Room. Some other bits of humor just came off flat. Is Ludlow's occasional obnoxiousness supposed to be charming? The resolution to his crush on Lady Lisa (Ashley Benson), an in-universe game character, was just odd.

The plot revolves around a Space Probe which contained images of Earthly culture. It was shot into space in 1982, yet the Aliens reference later pop culture items in their invasion. That includes Duck Hunt (1984), Paperboy (1985) and Max Headroom (1987-1988). The anachronisms were my biggest gripe about this movie.

My biggest delight with the movie was the visual effects. You can see each pixel in each digital character as if they were literally taken from their games. They're convincingly integrated with the real imagery shot by cinematographer Amir Mokri. The centerpiece of the film was the fast and furious car chase against Pac-Man on the streets of New York. The final fight against Donkey Kong mixed a real-life game level with a digital backdrop. These battles are well-worth the wait.

Pixels functions because of its sci-fi action. Whether you enjoy the rest of the film or not depends on how you appreciate its brand of humor. Overall, it's a decent cinematic matinee. If it peeks interest in these old video games, or inspires people to make exceptional movies based on them, then this film will do something good.