When I first watched the trailer of Adam Sandler’s Pixels, to say that I was excited would be an understatement. I’ve watched enough films to know that trailers are almost always better than the actual movies themselves; but an action-comedy film with an interesting and unique premise? Sign me up!

The initial high for the new movie, however, morphed quickly into wary hope as I heard the various criticism and negative reviews about it. I gave it a chance either way, hoping it would be better than what others say it was.

Pixels is an action, comedy, and sci-fi film directed by Chris Columbus. The main story is this: in the 1980’s, NASA sent a drone to space containing the movies, TV shows, and video games popular in those days. Unfortunately, some aliens found it and thought it to be a declaration of war. They send back their own warriors to attack Earth. And to fight on even ground, these warriors are made to look like giant versions of the game characters that ‘attacked’ the alien. Sam Brenner (Adam Sandler), Will Cooper (Kevin James), Eddie Plant (Peter Dinklage), and Ludlow Lamonosoff (Josh Grad) are legendary gamers chosen to fight against the pixelated monsters and save the world. With their knowledge and important experience in gaming, they may gain the upper hand against the technologically advanced aliens.

The premise of the movie is indeed remarkable, especially, nowadays, where the same cliché plots are recycled over and over, or mediocre sequels are made from established scenarios. Furthermore, the retro games present in the movie will certainly invoke a sense of nostalgia from the audience, especially if they grew up playing the well-known arcade games. However, the execution of the story can use a little work.

If the movie does indeed flop, at least we got some beautiful posters out of it!
From Aidy Reviews

While the outline of the overall plot is satisfying enough, the details of crucial turning points are neglected. For example, there is one scene wherein the protagonists needed to know some vital information for the story to progress . The information was revealed to them in a nonchalant manner that barely made any sense; it can be compared to how the story of the National Treasure progresses by plucking far-fetched ideas out of thin air and trying to make the audience believe everything is connected and practical. Pixels doesn’t even attempt to explain their plot devices; they just ask the viewers to roll with it. Perhaps it is intentional, with the producers intending to pass the lack of concrete and sensible details as part of the joke. There is something comical about it; but for me, this decision cheapened the action scenes that followed. If the scientific technobabble had been given more focus, the action scenes would have been more highlighted, more anticipated, and more suspenseful. As it is, the almost constant bombardment of explosions and fight scenes made the excitement for those shots ebb away as the movie progressed.

The shaky and unformed qualities of the protagonists and antagonists are something that I disliked. This is due to the fact that I take great pleasure in the little details which imply further background stories or simply humanize their characters. The characters are usually reflections of real people—dynamic, imperfect, sentient, and sometimes, ethical.

Look at this set of diverse characters!
From Flickering Myth

In Pixels, there is little screen time allotted for the development of their characters. Mind you, there are some character developments—the movie just won’t show you how that happened. While watching, I had several moments where I just had to ask, “But why? What’s your motivation for doing that?” because based on what the film had shown about that character, they would have neither the inclination nor the capability of doing what they just did. The characters don’t have permanent qualities or principles; they act and change as the plot demands it. Basically, they are puppets that follow the plot instead of being the driving forces that actually move the story.

The misogynistic themes in this movie are a bit blatant for my taste. While I understand the need to have every protagonist as male since the film caters to the male population, it seems to me that every female in the movie existed sorely for the pleasure of being romantic interests. One female character literally becomes a trophy that one protagonist would win.

For the record, the CGI of this movie is no less than amazing! The dark and evening setting of most scenes contrasted gorgeously with the bright colors of the video game characters. Even if the “villains” are blatantly pixelated, they mixed suitably with the “real-life” surroundings in which they are placed. The effects certainly had me convinced that things like a giant Pacman or the Centipede could coexist in the plane of the real world.

The reunion of a loving father and his son
From Pixels Trailer

The action scenes can be tallied as one of the movie’s good points. They are entertaining and well-coordinated. You can clearly see and understand the fight that is happening. Oftentimes, these scenes are shaky and chaotic like the action scenes in Jupiter Ascending (2015); but Pixels has more cohesive and organized action scenes than most. Furthermore, since being injured by the villains just “pixelizes” the characters, every scene is kept PG-rated. Well, except for a few parts with underlying tones. The movie contains your typical Adam Sandler humor, which is a bit dirty and crude in nature, but the jokes will still make you chuckle.

All in all, this movie encourages you to just enjoy what you see without thinking too deeply. It forces you to be less uptight about the nitty-gritty details. The astounding visual effects and suspenseful action scenes might make it worth your while.

Sources:

Aidy Reviews. Pixels (2015): http://aidyreviews.net/tw-portfolio/pixels-2015-movie-trailer/ [18 August 2015]

IMDb. Pixels: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2120120/ [18 August 2015]

Shinn, Liz. Design on Display: What Soars and What Flops in New Movie Poster Releases: http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/01/design-on-display-reviewing-new-movie-posters-rele.html [18 August 2015]

Wilson, Jake. Pixels get a new poster: http://www.flickeringmyth.com/2015/06/pixels-gets-a-new-poster.html [18 August 2015]

Youtube. PIXELS – Official Trailer # 2 – July 24th: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIOcWZOQL5M: [20 August 2015]

Youtube. Pixels Trailer in Spanish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrFvF1ZeuI8: [18 August 2015]