Pixels - Movie Review

Who's In It?

Josh Gad, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Monaghan, Kevin James and Adam Sandler


What's It About?

Aliens using video game characters to attack Earth, leaving President Kevin James to bring arcade greats Adam Sandler, discount Jonah Hill and Peter Dinklage in to fight them off.

Any Good?

The only thing I could think of during this film was that it was just a Frankenstein's monster of better media with the Sandler group thrown in. A story that was literally step-by-step ripped from an episode of Futurama, the style from Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim film and a cast made of budget alternatives.

I mentioned above the budget cast - I say this because you can clearly tell who they wanted to be who - Josh Gad over Jonah Hill and Jane Krakowski instead of Amy Pohler being the obvious signs - and they certainly got the performance they paid for. The thing that will surprise people most is how bad Peter Dinklage was - his whole role was short guy plays a criminal who curses with a horrible accent - a lot like his roles outside of Game of Thrones most people don't see him in.

Very Similar, VERY

I have to say, for being a film made of rips, it looked great. The solid matter to pixels transformation was seamless and clever, and the video game characters were vibrant, full of colour and looked great. Another up for the film was the soundtrack, cheesy but distinctly 80's with music like the fantastic Cheap Trick and cameos from 80's Hall and Oates and Madonna - definitely the high points of the film.

An obvious cash-grab on the upcoming boom of video game films, it could have been something had Adam Sandler not done his whole "it's a good time for me and the lads" shtick he uses with everything he makes since the 90's. I'd honestly recommend you watch the (hilarious) Futurama episode or Wreck-It-Ralph if you want to watch it with the kids.

Rating: