Film Review: Pixels

Game Over

Within the space of the past two weeks or so, the gods of cinema declared it within out interest to allow Adam Sandler to release not one, but two films in which he takes leading roles. If you saw my review of the awfully dull The Cobbler last week, you would have seen that Sandler's first attempt at some sort of cinematic redemption flopped entirely yet the much more publicised release of this weeks' Pixels seemed always to be the one in which Sandler was set to be at least slightly praised for. What can be said about the Christoper Columbus directed Pixels then? Is it any good? Not really. Is it terrible? Not at all. Does it feature Adam Sandler as a burned out low-life with no sense of future or accomplishment who somehow ends up with the gorgeous supporting actress through a wacky turn of events? Of course. Sandler territory here we are.

Years after a space probe featuring classic arcade games from the early 1980's is sent into space, weaponised versions of such games declare war on Earth, much to the horror of President Cooper (Kevin James) who enlists the help of childhood friend Sam Brenner (Adam Sandler), Eddie Plant (Peter Dinklage) and Ludlow Lamonsoff (Josh Gad) to use their expert knowledge on arcade games to defeat the evil presence that has engulfed their planet. Sound cool right? And to be fair to Pixels, its' well designed CGI and willingness to go full retro does play the cool card every time said arcade games are brought to life on-screen, but is ultimately let down by a farcical and cliched script, cringe-worthy acting, particularly, and strangely, from Dinklage of all people, and an adolescent desire to retire to age-old jokes about women and sex. Typical Sandler territory then. Although it may not be as mind-numbingly boring as The Cobbler, Pixels ultimately fails at bringing a rather cool premise to fruition and instead only accomplishes in being another cog on the wheel of Sandler's embarrassing filmography. 

Overall Score: 4/10

Film Review: The Cobbler

Throughout most of his rather bland and unremarkable career in film, Adam Sandler has at least managed to dial down his annoying and slightly repulsive acting ability to demonstrate how, if he chooses to be, he can actually be a solid comedic actor with some degree of talent, with my personal preference in his back catalogue being Big Daddy, a film, that although has a range of flaws, is rather funny in some places and overall, is a good solid comedy. Also, Little Nicky gets minor kudos for the hard-rock soundtrack and having Harvel Keitel as the devil. Now in 2015 however, we have The Cobbler, a film so muddled in its' own mix of comedic and magical elements, that its' almost the type of film you expect an actor of Sandler's pedigree to be a part of, particularly when looking back at his most recent endeavors into cinema. Aside from The Cobbler not being funny throughout its' overlong running time of 100 minutes, it is also one of the most boring experiences I have felt within film so far this year with the magical element that the film completely hinges on losing steam after about twenty minutes or so as well as being an element that settles more on the creepy, stalker side rather than the empowering, life-improving one. To be fair to Sandler, The Cobbler isn't the worst thing he has ever done, but it might be the most boring, with Sandler himself actually being better than usual and not making me want to hang myself every-time he is on screen. So overall, not awful, but not any good either. 

Overall Score: 3/10

Pixels New Trailer!

Last Tuesday, Sony pictures released their first trailer for pixels. The film is an adaptation of Patrick Jeans short film (2010) of the same name. The world is under attack by characters from old school video games such as PAC-Man, Donkey Kong and Space invaders sent by an alien aggressor who misunderstood the video games we sent into space in 1982, as a declaration of war......right.

Featuring Adam Sandler, Peter, Dinklage and Josh Gad. The movie follows them as they use their arcade gaming skills to save the world from being turned into pixels.

Directed by Chris Columbus whose earlier works include Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire and Harry Potter and the philosopher's stone gives the movie some real potential. Also starring Tōru Iwatani the creator of PAC-Man! Which you do see in trailer getting his arm bitten. 

 The idea of old school video games destroying the word is solid, and the video effects are amazing.

Pixels will be released May 15th this year, and I look forward to reviewing it with all the good and the bad.