"Pixels," the new film in theaters starring comedians Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Josh Gad (the voice of the snowman in "Frozen") and more, is meant to be a funny throwback to the 1980s, especially the early '80s, when kids just like me dumped bucket loads of quarters into video games like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Galaga.
We mashed our fingers, memorized the patterns of invading aliens, and wasted whole summers as the first generation of "gamers" to glue our eyes to a pixelated screen.
And even though the animated hit "Wreck-It Ralph" from a few years ago was a much better video-game homage, "Pixels" did manage to get both my wife and I giggling and even laughing out loud at its ridiculous antics.
Despite its laugh count, however, there's very little to commend about the worldview in "Pixels."
The premise is that a videotape of these early generation games was launched into space in an effort to make contact with alien species. The aliens who received it, however, took the message as a declaration of war, and now, 33 years later, they've challenged Earth to a living video-game tournament, winner take the planet.
Consequently, Pac-Man begins gobbling his way through New York City, Centipede descends on the skies over London, and only those first generation, '80s gamers can rise up to defeat the old games and save the day.
Typical of Adam Sandler fare, "Pixels" is a non-stop barrage of jokes, many of which fall flat and should have been edited out, while several others find their mark and the funny bone. Also typical of Sandler fare, too many of those jokes are lowbrow and/or sexual in nature, again leading me to suggest some discretionary editing.
Truthfully, a conscientious writer and/or director who values excellence in filmmaking could have really done something with this film, but alas, no such one seems to have been associated with this project.
The prevailing theme of "Pixels" is that these '80s video game geeks don't have to be "losers," but they're destined for greatness, to be the heroes they've always dreamed of being. I'm not going to criticize a film that's simply comedic fluff for such a trivial theme, but ...
But there are other themes that play out in "Pixels" as well. Specifically, the primary hero in the movie begins a love affair with a married woman. Yes, her husband cheated on her, but the story encourages the audience to cheer for our hero's adulterous pursuit.
Then there's hero No. 2, who exhibits some serious sexual confusion, first lusting after a video game character, then lusting after other men, then finally settling on an Amazonian princess.
Then there's hero No. 3, whose greatest aspiration in life is to manage a ménage à trois in the Lincoln Bedroom of the White House.
By the end, I'm not sure if the primary theme is heroism or hedonism.
Yes, I know, it's just supposed to be funny. And there are plenty of laughs in "Pixels" to make it diversionary fun. But there's also plenty of other garbage in the movie, such that I'd recommend getting your '80s throwback fix by renting "Wreck-It Ralph" or even "Tron: Legacy" instead.
Content advisory:
- "Pixels," rated PG-13, contains roughly 15-20 obscenities and profanities.
- As noted above, the film contains an adulterous romance, a male character who lusts after a video-game queen, then later ogles adult men and slaps their behinds, and a character who tries to manipulate a sexual encounter with two celebrity women in the White House. There are a few bikinis, midriffs and revealing outfits, including a man's butt crack. Several lewd or at least sexually implied jokes litter the script, and there are a few kisses.
- As the film centers on an alien invasion, there are several scenes of violence, gunfire, explosions, car chases and so forth. The aliens who attack, however, "pixelate" their human opponents, which is slightly startling, but not bloody or gruesome. The film also contains some slapstick violence.
- The film has no significant religious or occult themes, but does makes some off-hand, casual remarks, such as, "Use the force" (a "Star Wars" reference), "You smell so nice, like the Book of Genesis," "Thank God," and, "I prayed for this."