“Pixels” is a delightful film about classic gaming and its ability to separate audiences from its money. Adam Sandler as the lead was a stroke of meta commentary genius, but we’ll get back to that later. The film takes upon the well tread idea of aliens mistaking classic arcade games as a sign of war from Earth. Much like Fry, that random short film and other 12 year old delusions; it’s up to a lone schlub to save the planet. Fortunately, he has a team of video game champion buddies and his best fattie friend forever is the new President.
Picking on Adam Sandler for headlining middle of the road entertainment is like shooting fish in a barrel. The guy cared about his career at one point, then mainstream audiences ignored any attempt he made to break out of the expected. Bill Murray went through the same thing until 1998, but the guy never gave up. Sandler gave up because he was financially rewarded for not caring and you can’t fault him for that. Risk vs. reward is quite the bitch and it gets both ways.
If you venture out this weekend to see “Pixels”, I’d recommend acknowledging what you’re seeing. If you say something stupid like “turn your brain off”, then walk into traffic. It helps that my local theater has a freeway behind it, so that takes care of most of the mouth breathers. But, if you stick with the film, you’re going to get a middle aged child’s view on recapturing the glory of youth through the filter that he should’ve ditched back in 1982.
Martha Stewart and Serena Williams are trophy bait for rivals. Women show up as motherly figures that can double as wives. When they need to serve that carnal purpose, we’ll just say they squired out some baby Q-Berts. Arrested Development in Cinema can be a bit much for those that want to be above it all, but I’ll give Sandler one thing. The dude’s consistent.
Release Date: 7/24/15