Pixels Review

Pixels

Release Date: 10th September 2015 - Australia

Production Companies

Columbia Pictures (presents)

Happy Madison Productions

1492 Pictures
China Film Group Corporation (CFGC) (in association with)

LStar Capital (in association with)

Film Croppers Entertainment
(in association with)

Distribution 

Sony Pictures Australia

Genre: Sci-Fi/Comedy

Rating: PG

Runtime: 106 minutes

Budget: $129,000,000

Box Office Gross: $244,874,809 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary

When an alien race attacks Earth in the form of classic video games after misinterpreting them as a declaration of war, President Will Cooper must call on his childhood pal Sam Brenner to assemble a team of old-school arcade players. It's up to Ludlow Lamonsoff and Eddie Plant in their arcade skills to defeat the aliens and save the

world from being destroyed

by PAC-MAN, Donkey

Kong, Galaga, Centipede

and Space Invaders.

Cast

Adam Sandler - Sam Brenner

Kevin James - Will Cooper
Michelle Monaghan - Violet Van Patten
Josh Gad - Ludlow Lamonsoff
Peter Dinklage - Eddie Plant

Brian Cox - Admiral Porter

Matt Lintz - Matty Van Patten

Denis Akiyama - Toru Iwatani

Sean Bean - Corporal Hill

Affion Crockett - Sgt. Dylan Cohen
Lainie Kazan - Mickey Lamonsoff

Ashley Benson - Lady Lisa

Jane Krakowski - First Lady Jane Cooper

Dan Aykroyd - 1982 Championship M.C.

Thomas McCarthy - Michael the Robot

Tim Herlihy - Defense Secretary

Serena Williams - Herself (Cameo)

Martha Stewart - Herself (Cameo)

Allen Covert - Abusive Citizen (Cameo)

Anthony Ippolito - 13-Year-Old

Brenner

Jared Riley - 13-Year-Old

Cooper

Andrew Bambridge - 13-

Year-Old Eddie

Jacob Shinder - 8-Year-Old

Ludlow

Sadie Sandler - Lemonade Sadie

Sunny Sandler - Sweet Scout Girl

Daryl Hall - Himself (Cameo)

John Oates - Himself (Cameo)

Matt Frewer - Max Headroom

(Voice) (Cameo)

Jackie Sandler - President's

Assistant Jennifer

Jared Sandler - White House

Junior Aide Jared

Fiona Shaw - Prime Minister

(Uncredited)

Crew

Producer/Director - Chris Columbus
Based on the Short Film

"Pixels"/Executive Producer - Patrick Jean

Screen Story/Screenplay -
Tim Herlihy
Screenplay - Timothy Dowling

Associate Producers/Unit

Production Managers -

David Witz and Lyn Lucibello-Brancatella

Associate Producer/First

Assistant Director - K.C. Hodenfield

Executive Producers - Johnny Alves,

Barry Bernardi, Matias Bouchard,

Benjamin Darris, Jack Giarraputo,

Seth Gordon, Yuka Kato, Steve Koren,

Heather Parry, Ben Waisbren,

Michael Barnathan and La Peikang

Producers - Adam Sandler, Mark Radcliffe
and Allen Covert

Co-Producer/Music Supervisor - Kevin Grady

Military Technical Advisors - Gregory Bishop

and Brian Chung

Production Designer - Peter Wenham

Illustrators - Jamie Rawa,

George Hull and Tim Flattery

Art Directors - Richard L. Johnson

and Peter Grundy

Set Decorators - Rosalie Board and
Rosemary Brandenberg

Property Masters - Timothy S. Wiles

and Vic Rigler

Costume Designer - Christine Wada

Director of Photography - Amir Mokri

Second Assistant Director - Jack Boem
Second Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator -

Bob Brown
Stunt Coordinator: Canada - Layton Morrison
Stunt Coordinator: Second Unit - Jon H. Epstein
Fight Choreographer - Peng Zhang

Picture Car Coordinator - Steve Mann

Picture Car Supervisor - Ryan Herem
Special Effects Supervisor - Burt Dalton
Special Effects Coordinator - Laird McMurray
Visual Effects Supervisor - Matthew E. Butler

Visual Effects Supervisor: SPI - Daniel Kramer
Visual Effects Producer - Denise Davis

Visual Effects Producer: Digital Domain -

Elizabeth Schafer Knovick

Senior Visual Effects Producer: SPI -
Christian Hejnal

Digital Effects Supervisor: SPI - John Haley
Animation Supervisor: SPI - Steve Nichols

Animation Supervisor: Digital Domain -

Jan Philip Cramer

Computer Graphics Supervisor: SPI -

Benjamin Hendricks

Computer Graphics Supervisor: Atomic Fiction -

David 'Rudy' Grossman

Sequence Supervisors: Digital Domain -

Alexandre Millet and Paul George Palop

Compositing Supervisors: Digital Domain -

Joel Behrens and Bryan Smeall

Previs/Post Vis Supervisor - Scott Meadows

Effects Supervisor: Digital Domain - Brian Gazdik

Editors - Hughes Winborne and

Peck Prior

Sound Designer/Re-Recording Mixer -

Steve Boeddeker

ADR/Supervising Sound Editor - Steve Slanec

Production Mixer - Glen Gauthier

Dialogue Editors - Richard Quinn

and Michael Silvers

Re-Recording Mixer - Gary Summers

Foley Artists - Sean England and

Ronni Brown

Music - Henry Jackman

Score Mixers - Alan Meyerson

and Chris Fogel

Review

I was unsure of this video game-oriented sci-fi comedy of PIXELS when I heard about the terrible reception shortly before its release. I was astounded to discover that the film is an adaptation of an animated short. Its storyline is about video games attacking the planet, a plot borrowed from the episode of Futurama. Lastly, the renowned writer-director Chris Columbus is at the helm of this overlooked motion picture. No film could easily contrast with PIXELS, excluding Wreck-It Ralph, an animated feature released three years before.

It's not quite the game-changer the arcade game enthusiasts had in store. PIXELS is a misunderstood movie mainly criticised by those who disliked its lead actor, Adam Sandler, as his latest movies bombed callously to audiences everywhere. Then again, it does seem like a childhood fantasy for the middle-aged comedian. I wondered why Chris, of all filmmakers, was determined to direct a feature with an actor he had never worked with before.

The strong market point for a movie of this calibre is to create a sense of nostalgia for video game fans to recreate the old video game characters that gamers once treasured. PIXELS did an incredible job in bringing the visuals, with the recreation of the 8-bit video game characters of Pac-Man and Donkey Kong and elements in pixelation. Many of its jokes and references aimed at adults were hit-and-miss. I don't intend to criticise the scene where a Smurf is vaporised by one of the main characters, mostly because I'm not a big fan of Smurfs. I enjoyed seeing Peter Dinklage in a supporting role rather than the lead role heavily handpicked for Sandler.

I lastly liked the song placement of "We Will Rock You" by Queen. One last issue about the other actors is that Kevin James is probably unsuited as the President, and Josh Gad's character is poorly written, unfunny, and has constant screaming.

Not every critic should judge PIXELS as a flop unworthy of a replay mode, as it is fair to say that this film does have some themes appealing to those who have played these kinds of game classics at home or the video arcades. Thanks for reading my review. Sorry to say, this is game over.

Star rating: (7/10) Good Movie

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