Pixels

Not everything is as bad as it is on the first glance. I watched the comedy action science fiction movie Pixels, released on July 24, 2015. Directed by Chris Columbus, it takes place in 1982 and the 2010s in America and other countries like Britain and India. Starring Adam Sandler, Josh Gad, and Peter Dinklage, it is rated PG-13.

In 1982, kids played in an arcade game championship, with the footage sent into Space in the hopes of contacting alien life. In the present day, the arcade game nerds are all grown up and haven't done much with their lives, except for Will Cooper. He’s President of the United States. The aliens received the footage and unfortunately, they misinterpreted it as an act of war. They send down pixelated versions of the arcade game characters to attack. Fortunately, President Cooper is best friends with an incredibly skilled grown up arcade game nerd, Sam Brenner. They also enlisted the help of Ludlow Lamonsoff and Eddie Plant. The arcade game nerds have to put their skills into real-world action, proving that they really do have worth. Can they save the day?

I saw this movie in theaters when it first came out. I was a 13-year-old back then and I loved it. However, this movie was absolutely panned and was considered to be one of 2015’s worst movies. Since then, I have seen more of a defense for this movie online. It hasn’t reached cult classic status yet, but I think it should. I will defend this movie and why I think it is great, while also explaining where the hate likely came from. I will start off with the actors and characters. Sam Brenner is played by Adam Sandler. Now, I know the opinion on Sandler is very split on if he’s good to watch or not, with both fans and haters. From what I’ve seen, I would say it depends on the movie for me. However, I like him in this film. Not that I thought he was the comedic highlight of the film or anything, but he has really funny lines. Especially when he’s just roasting people. The character has a good arc, as he has to realize he does amount to something. He has good leadership skills when they do fight the arcade game characters.

Ludlow Lamonsoff is played by Josh Gad. For those that don’t know, Gad is a funny and likable actor who always plays the goofy but supportive comic relief. He’s best known for being the voice of Olaf in the Frozen franchise. He’s my favorite part of this movie. He really puts his all into this performance. In a movie I overall find to be rather hilarious to watch, he delivers the funniest laughs. Especially when he’s just screaming at people. Ludlow also gets to show off despite being a weirdo and a conspiracy theorist, that he has the knowledge to be able to figure out why this was happening and help out.

Eddie Plant is played by Peter Dinklage. Of course, Dinklage is always a legendary actor in everything he’s been in. He brings his typical attitude to the role for prideful, cocky laughs. He does start out as a selfish jerk, but does learn some humility along the way too.

President Will Cooper is played by Kevin James. On the surface, it might seem weird he plays the typical lighthearted best friend role, while also playing the President. But to be fair, I think that is part of the joke. Like Sandler, I feel like he can be legitimately funny. Due to being a President, he is a bit more of a straight man compared to the three actors named previously, but he does still have really funny lines. Like the other characters, he gets to prove his self worth, as he is a rather ridiculed President. He shows himself to be capable of handling a major crisis.

Lieutenant Colonel Violet van Patten is played by Michelle Monaghan. If James was kind of a straight man, Monaghan is especially that, as she is generally played more serious. But it is a nice contrast to the other characters. I do admit that initially, they do pull the annoying cliche where Brenner and Patten, obviously attracted to each other, do nothing but constantly bicker and insult each other. I do admit this is the biggest problem with the movie. However, once they start getting along, they have really nice chemistry.

Admiral James Porter is played by Brian Cox. He does a good job being an unlikable jerk for the audience to hate, saying insults to the characters we know will be proven wrong. While I can’t go over all the actors, I feel like this movie was very well cast with everyone else too. Overall, I enjoyed the actors and characters, with the comedy being really hilarious to laugh at.

Obviously, the appeal of this movie is with the nostalgia to the arcade game era of gaming. As someone who loves video games, but has also enjoyed old arcade games, this movie spoke to me when I first saw the trailers. Being able to fight arcade game characters in pixelated form in real life is an awesome concept. Whether it’s shooting up Centipede with light cannons, driving in ghost-like cars to take down Pac-Man, or climbing up ladders and platforms to reach Donkey Kong, they really nail that element of geek culture. There are other arcade games represented, but those are the main ones. To be fair, those are great choices. I feel like this is the kind of movie that would make you want to play more arcade games from that era. All of this is also done with fun action and visuals that make it a spectacle. I should bring up this movie is based on a 2010 French short of the same name, so I would recommend watching that too.

In regards to the movie’s story, it is an excuse for nostalgia while also tying into self worth and character growth. A big criticism of the movie has been that there are multiple plot holes tying into how these elements were placed into the real world. But to be fair, many great movies have plot holes. This is a movie where aliens send pixelated versions of arcade game characters after us as an act of war. How much realism were you expecting? There is good pacing. It’s not just constant arcade game fighting. They actually take their time with it. Leaving you in excitement for when they get to it. I should bring up that the director of this movie, Chris Columbus, was also the director of the first two Home Alone movies and the first two Harry Potter movies. So I think it’s clear he knows how to portray wonder on screen.

Overall, looking at this movie a decade later, I still like it. I think it was a movie people were just too hard on. It came out at the height of it being popular to hate on Adam Sandler. So my theory is that when people saw that such a cool concept of arcade game characters coming to life was being given to him, they decided they instantly hated it. I feel like if it came out now, it would have done better. Not only is Adam Sandler not as hated now as he was back then, but video game movies are also all the rage. Recently, I’ve tried to be less critical and see if a movie is just worth your time. Not only can I say this is a ton of fun to watch, but even critically speaking, it gets my praise. Just a reminder that you should form your own opinion.

In this movie, the arcade game characters were attacking the whole world. Our heroes needed to step in to save not just America, but the whole world too. I feel like this would be a great time to advocate for world peace. Obviously, the fact that many countries in the world are against each other is concerning. The best thing we can do is try to reach towards causes that further the goals towards world peace. Whether it’s done through peaceful protesting or social media, we can encourage our government to take action towards laws that will inspire other countries and hopefully lead to more peace. Nuclear weapons are also a big issue related to world peace. During the Cold War, everyone was panicking about nuclear weapons. Today, with the Cold War ended and more of a focus on environmental destruction, nuclear weapons aren’t talked about as the most severe social issue to focus on as they used to be. But I would argue they should be. To me, nuclear weapons are just as serious an issue as environmental destruction, as they could also cause human extinction. Heck, the more I’ve thought about it, I would argue they’re a more severe issue. While environmental destruction could cause human extinction slowly, nuclear weapons could do it instantly. Again, peaceful protesting and using social media to advocate for the government to exact laws that are less likely for the weapons to be used and to have more conversations with other countries to put down their nuclear weapons, can make people feel a lot safer. In the movie, the military was needed to be consulted with so they could address the crisis at hand. I have nothing but respect for the good people who risked their lives in the military for our future. I also agree we need the military right now for self defense purposes. I do nevertheless hope the day will come that we won't need them anymore. I hope the day will come that we have a world without wars. Advocating for world peace is the way we will accomplish that. I also recommend helping to stop various other social issues to make a more peaceful world. If we all try hard enough to look at our global neighbors as human beings, maybe the day will come that we really will no longer be enemies with other countries.