Pixels Movie Review

Disclosure: I was invited by Sony to screen the movie early. However all opinions expressed are mine.

Pixels Movie Review. ‘Pixels,’ Starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan, Josh Gad, and Peter Dinklage hit theaters today. However, I was one of the lucky few who got a chance to preview it early. Pixels is a story about aliens who misinterpreted a message that was sent to them, so they disguised themselves as classic 80’s arcade game characters and came down to earth to destroy it. If you’re a retro gamer, then that last sentence properly got your attention.

Pixels Movie Review

Adam Sandler plays the lead character,  Sam Brenner a retired video game world champion while Kevin James plays the President of the United States of America. When the aliens set out to destroy the world, the President calls on his best friend, Brenner to put together a team of Arcaders to help fight the aliens. Peter Dinklage joins the cast as Eddie Plant, a/k/a The Fire Blaster and Josh Gad plays Ludlow Lamonsoff, the youngest member of the Arcaders. Michelle Monaghan rounds out the cast as Lt. Col. Violet Van Patten, a specialist supplying the arcaders with weapons to fight the aliens.

I was excited to see Pixels because I grew up playing arcade games so the idea that the games will come to life was intriguing. The movie is directed by Chris Columbus and it’s chucked filled with one liners to keep you laughing the majority of the time. Keep an eye out for the creator of PAC-MAN, Professor Iwatani, he makes a cameo appearance as a video game repairman at 1982 arcade. Pixels definitely paid homage to classic arcade games with appearances by PAC-MAN™, Donkey Kong™, Centipede®, Galaga™, Frogger, Q*bert™, and Space Invaders™.

If you’re a fan of arcade video games from the 80’s or simply want to enjoy the sheer awesomeness of CG special effects, then you will enjoy the movie Pixels. Make sure you see it in 3D, so you can get the maximum effect. Pixels is rated PG-13 and it’s currently playing everywhere.

Check out my interview with the cast of Pixels