Pixels

When I search for a movie, I read the real peoples reviews. They're the critics I listen to. And I'm glad I did! This movie was awesome!

Aliens in the guise of video game characters prepare to take over the world and a group of 80s arcade gamers re-team to stop the threat.

From the director of Home Alone, Chris Columbus' Pixels plays as a mix of Wreck it Ralph, The Lego Movie and channels the likes of Independence Day and is reminiscent of Ghostbusters to name a few. This highly under-appreciated scifi comedy is a feature-length adaptation of Patrick Jean's video- game themed short. There's something for everyone but if you're a 30 something or more you'll find it hard not to like this retro game blast of a movie complete with arcade slot machine sounds.

Opening in 1982 those with an appreciation of the late 70s and early 80s surely can't help but love the throwback gags. It then fast forwards to the present day with Adam Sandler, Kevin James and Peter Dinklage's characters all grown up. It's fast paced fun with aliens disguised as Hervé Villechaize, Madonna and President Reagan. The contemporary cheap quips about Gandalf and Harry Potter also hit the mark. As the grown up nerd gamers assist the President (James) to save the world it's good natured with a flood of one liners, fitting effects and a soundtrack emulating a bygone era. It's packed with references from StarWars to Tron, writers Tim Herlihy and Timothy Dowling induce nostalgia successfully.

The supporting cast include the likes of Brian Cox, Sean Bean and Dan Ackroyd to name a few. There's also some celebrity cameos including Serena Williams and Martha Stewart. Characters from classic arcade games such as Paperboy, Space Invaders, Pac-Man and Donkey Kong among many others appear.

Despite scattered anachronisms (who's checking) Columbus' Pixels is sorely underrated, it has great visuals and perfect comedy timing. It also has subtext about today's games. It's very entertaining, even if your 're not a retro gamer or and 8-bit lover, it still comes recommended.

I guess the the way to describe this movie is Ghostbusters lit up in neon. Please see it just for the cgi, it's awesome. If you have the dvd look for the short on how they created one of the cute characters. The comedy is snappy, almost witty, and yet nothing new, but it works. You'll smile rather than laugh out loud. The story is absurd, which is exactly what we pay Hollywood for, and with this one they've outdone themselves. There's a classic chase. There's a great cameo appearance. There's a cleverly worded love affair. There's a great homage to nerds of the 1980s and overall, I thought, a really whacky satire of big budget invasion movies. It's just such fun.

There are plenty of movies related to the video games. The 80s movie 'Tron' was one of those first I have seen, followed by many. But the recent one 'Wreck-it Ralph' was the game changer in the modern animation/CGI which led to another similar flick, 'The Lego Movie'. Lego and 'Toy Story' are the toys, not the video games, but very close to this theme and I'm very happy that Hollywood made this film for the guys like me who grew up playing them.

The film had a very simple story with the great visuals. Sometimes simple is very good rather going for hi-tech. Especially those who played these games in their middle-age back in the 80s could be now very old and they might suffer to understand the film due to the technology/terms/phrase gap, if it matched to the todays hi-tech hi-resolution video games. But the youngsters of the present era didn't understand that who are the backbone of any movie's success and that's why this movie sunk in the ocean of criticism.

My childhood and teenage was the late 90s and early 00s respectively, So 8bit games are on the edge of revolution. My favourites were the races and brick games, especially 'Duck Hunt', because I get a gun, not joystick. So this movie really brought me those sweet memories. A decade ago I used those unique sounds and music for message alerts in my 2G mobile phone(s).

I know recently Sandler had hit the rock bottom in his acting career, but, he's kind of lifted after the decent film 'The Cobbler' and excellent multistarrer 'Men, Women & Children'. This is not a massive comeback to what he's known for, comedies. But, sailing on average or above in better than falling downward in the career graph. To me this film was a better one, an above average, obviously not a masterpiece.

Guest appearances were unexpected, but was not that effective, except Ashley Benson, who was so hot in her 2-3 odd minutes. This film is not for everyone. Youngsters and oldsters never understand it. If you were born in the 70s and 80s, then probably you will know what to expect. Even it does not deliver to your expectation, definitely gives satisfaction for bringing those lost memories of our childhood.

7/10

Just watched this with my movie theatre-working friend who had watched this before and enjoyed it. I did too, though I knew this wasn't gonna be any greats shakes and it wasn't. There were some funny lines at the beginning and some of the video game gags did go a little well. Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Josh Gad, Peter Dinklage, and Michelle Monaghan did well with their roles. When I saw the arcade and all those video games during the 1982 sequence, part of me felt some nostalgia for the times I spent with my brother and his friend playing those games at that kind of place. About the ending sequence taking place one year later: lame. Though really, this was pretty enjoyable so on that note, Pixels is worth a look.