MOVIE OF THE WEEK #1 (7/24/15): PIXELS
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| "Mini-Coopers – well, I guess it beats having those dancing Kia rodents come at me!" Pac-Man gets ready to face off against a modernized fleet of his old adversaries Pinky, Clyde, Blinky and Inky in a scene from director Chris Columbus video game-centric alien attack movie PIXELS. © 2015 CTMG, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All Rights Reserved. |
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Adam Sandler, Michelle Monaghan, Kevin James, Josh Gad, Peter Dinklage, Brian Cox, Jane Krakowski, Sean Bean, Dan Aykroyd, Affion Crockett and Ashley Benson with Matthew Lintz
WRITER(S): Tim Herlihy and Timothy Dowling (screenplay);Tim Herlihy (screen story); Patrick Jean (short film)
DIRECTOR(S): Chris Columbus
60 SECOND PLOT SUMMARY (OR AS CLOSE TO THAT TIME AS ONE CAN MAKE IT): It's 1982 ... And arcades are plentiful in America. And young Sam Brenner (played as an adult by Adam Sandler) and his best friend Cooper a.k.a. "Chewy" (played as an adult by Kevin James) are happy to spend their days – and Chewy's sister's quarters – playing the likes of all the hip games at the time like Defender, Galaga, Pac-Man and of course, Donkey Kong all day long. Sam is so good at video games he ends up earning a shot at the title at the 1982 Arcade World Championships, going up against the Eddie Plant, a.k.a. "The Fire Blaster" (played as an adult by Peter Dinklage) in a game of Donkey Kong ...
Fast-forward to the present and things have taken sharp turns in opposite directions for Chewy and Sam. Chewy is now the leader of the free world he enjoys a life as President of the United States where his loving wife (Jane Krakowski) supports him even when he makes yet another unintentional public gaffe and Sam is now working as a technician for a Best Buy-like company's "Nerd" unit. That leads him to the home of Violet Van Patten (Michelle Monaghan) and her son Matty (Matthew Lintz), where he begins to make himself acquainted until they both end up getting phone calls that lead them to the White House at the request of Chewy, er, President Cooper: Something has attacked a U.S. base in Guam and they have no idea what it is.
Ludlow (played as an adult by Josh Gad) – another former childhood gaming prodigy turned grown man living with his grandmother who has gone WAY down the conspiracy theory hole – does. For he has decoded a message from another world that explains earth is under attack by alien forces who mistake a time capsule containing video game footage as a declaration of war on their planet. And if earth is going to survive, we will have to win three challenges based on classic games or be completely and utterly eradicated.
So now, as earth faces its greatest challenge yet, it's going to take a bunch of arcade geeks from days gone by to save the day ...
Fast-forward to the present and things have taken sharp turns in opposite directions for Chewy and Sam. Chewy is now the leader of the free world he enjoys a life as President of the United States where his loving wife (Jane Krakowski) supports him even when he makes yet another unintentional public gaffe and Sam is now working as a technician for a Best Buy-like company's "Nerd" unit. That leads him to the home of Violet Van Patten (Michelle Monaghan) and her son Matty (Matthew Lintz), where he begins to make himself acquainted until they both end up getting phone calls that lead them to the White House at the request of Chewy, er, President Cooper: Something has attacked a U.S. base in Guam and they have no idea what it is.
Ludlow (played as an adult by Josh Gad) – another former childhood gaming prodigy turned grown man living with his grandmother who has gone WAY down the conspiracy theory hole – does. For he has decoded a message from another world that explains earth is under attack by alien forces who mistake a time capsule containing video game footage as a declaration of war on their planet. And if earth is going to survive, we will have to win three challenges based on classic games or be completely and utterly eradicated.
So now, as earth faces its greatest challenge yet, it's going to take a bunch of arcade geeks from days gone by to save the day ...
WHO WILL LIKE THIS FILM THE MOST? Josh Gad fans; Peter Dinklage fans; people who grew up going to arcades; Qbert fans
WHO WON’T (OR SHOULDN'T) LIKE THIS MOVIE? People who can''t forgive Adam Sandler for his past comedy atrocities; people who have no interest in video games or anything Adam Sandler or Kevin James do cinematically; those who feel the concept is too ludicrous or should have been reserved for someone with true fanboy sensibilities
SO, IS IT GOOD, BAD OR ABSOLUTELY AWFUL? Thanks to some rather ridiculous (in a good way), committed performances by Gad and Dinklage combined with some unsuspected lighthearted humor, Pixels is an enjoyable summer romp well suited for adults and children alike.
Much – and deservedly so thanks to debacles the likes of Jack and Jill and the ironically-named-since-only-little-kids-enjoy-them Grown Ups movies – has been made of Sandler's recent comedic endeavors. Pixels fortunately finds him playing things with more of a serious role and relying on his abilities of using good timing coupled with an innate ability to represent a common man trying to do right to great effect. Instead of going over the top, he stays within his character's lane and instead lets Gad – who has proven quite adept at going for the joke with no regard to coming off as too silly on FX's The Comedians – and Dinklage, who does his best not to be outdone as an over-the-top rock star in his own mind who lives and plays by his own rules.
As you might expect, James does his usual routine of playing the good guy who's going to be the brunt of the joke well and Monaghan provides a solid rival for Sandler to at first work against and then with as the story progresses. The chemistry between the two comes across as if they truly do enjoy being around each other, which helps as that could have been problematic otherwise. Lintz also contributes to the overall enjoyment of the film by playing a kid who is a smart kid, but never in a "oh, the kid gets to be smarter than the adults and makes them all look stupid" fashion that insults your intelligence. Sure, there are some corny jokes, but the cast commits to them in a way that gets them over without making you groan too much.
Besides Gad and Dinklage stealing the show, the thing that makes Pixels enjoyable is of course, the video games featured in the movie and how they are used to comedic and dramatic effect in the film. While you'll at first enjoy the nostalgia of seeing characters from arcade days past pop up on the big screen, the way in which are used to make the film as opposed to detract from it. This isn't Transformers where the ONLY thing of interest are the robots and watching them fight; this is a film that uses its star attraction to complete a story instead of being the only part of the story worth a damn. Make no mistake, however, the video games found in Pixels are used very, very well and make for the most intriguing part of the story without making you hate the rest of the movie. It's difficult to say much more about which characters are in the film and why without giving away too much of the plot, but it's fair to say you'll be pleasantly surprised how it all comes together.
Those factors are what Pixels most enjoyable, family friendly venture in years in need of no cheat codes or reset button.
Much – and deservedly so thanks to debacles the likes of Jack and Jill and the ironically-named-since-only-little-kids-enjoy-them Grown Ups movies – has been made of Sandler's recent comedic endeavors. Pixels fortunately finds him playing things with more of a serious role and relying on his abilities of using good timing coupled with an innate ability to represent a common man trying to do right to great effect. Instead of going over the top, he stays within his character's lane and instead lets Gad – who has proven quite adept at going for the joke with no regard to coming off as too silly on FX's The Comedians – and Dinklage, who does his best not to be outdone as an over-the-top rock star in his own mind who lives and plays by his own rules.
As you might expect, James does his usual routine of playing the good guy who's going to be the brunt of the joke well and Monaghan provides a solid rival for Sandler to at first work against and then with as the story progresses. The chemistry between the two comes across as if they truly do enjoy being around each other, which helps as that could have been problematic otherwise. Lintz also contributes to the overall enjoyment of the film by playing a kid who is a smart kid, but never in a "oh, the kid gets to be smarter than the adults and makes them all look stupid" fashion that insults your intelligence. Sure, there are some corny jokes, but the cast commits to them in a way that gets them over without making you groan too much.
Besides Gad and Dinklage stealing the show, the thing that makes Pixels enjoyable is of course, the video games featured in the movie and how they are used to comedic and dramatic effect in the film. While you'll at first enjoy the nostalgia of seeing characters from arcade days past pop up on the big screen, the way in which are used to make the film as opposed to detract from it. This isn't Transformers where the ONLY thing of interest are the robots and watching them fight; this is a film that uses its star attraction to complete a story instead of being the only part of the story worth a damn. Make no mistake, however, the video games found in Pixels are used very, very well and make for the most intriguing part of the story without making you hate the rest of the movie. It's difficult to say much more about which characters are in the film and why without giving away too much of the plot, but it's fair to say you'll be pleasantly surprised how it all comes together.
Those factors are what Pixels most enjoyable, family friendly venture in years in need of no cheat codes or reset button.
OVERALL RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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