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Written by: Tim Riley

Published: 02 August 2015

PIXELS (Rated PG-13)

Given its premise that aliens assume arcade games to be a declaration of war, “Pixels” finds that its target audience just might be middle-aged persons who spent a lot of time roughly three decades ago plunking quarters into video games at the local arcade.

Director Chris Columbus (the first two “Harry Potter” films and the “Night at the Museum” franchise) became sold on guiding “Pixels” to the big screen because the blend of comedy and action allowed him, in his own words, to create “an original summer movie that took you back to the 80s in an evocative, nostalgic way.”

To some extent, “Pixels” would have us believe that years of misspent youth could have a payoff in the future.

This would come as welcome news if you spent a lot of time in arcades, and as such, the film does have a nostalgic touch.

As kids in 1982, Adam Sandler’s Sam Brenner, Kevin James’ Will Cooper, Josh Gad’s Ludlow Lamonsoff and Peter Dinklage’s Eddie “The Fire Blaster” Plant mastered the gaming arcade universe.

A prologue centered around the world championship bout of Donkey Kong in 1982 results in a protracted gaming battle in which teenage whiz kid Sam Brenner eventually loses to the arrogant, voluble and preening Eddie Plant.

The loss is devastating to Brenner’s self-confidence, though his buddies Will Cooper and Ludlow Lamonsoff try to buck him up.

Still, Brenner ends up in the present day in the unsatisfying job of a techno geek, installing flat screen TVs and other gadgets.

Meanwhile, Lamonsoff, younger than the other guys and the child prodigy amongst the gamers, fares even worse than Brenner. He’s turned into a conspiracy theorist that still clings to his childhood crush on Lady Lisa, the cartoonish lead character in Dojo Quest, his favorite game.

On the other hand, Kevin James’ Will Cooper, barely literate, it would seem, has inexplicably become the President of the United States. Yes, I am surprised too, because the likable James is more like your mall security guard or, at best, manager of a fast-food joint.

And yet, President Cooper, floundering in the polls, is in need of a boost, one that will come from the most unlikely source, namely his video tech buddy who wears a hideously ugly orange Nerd Crew uniform, and yet could be the key to a strategy to defeat alien invaders who resemble creatures from Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, among many others.

Apparently, NASA launched into space a video cassette of the 1982 championship match, and then thirty or so years later the aliens decided that this questionable cultural exchange was, in fact, a hostile act.

I would say these aliens are slow-witted if it took them this long to arrive at this erroneous deduction. Then, perhaps, they needed several decades to create a war machine influence by Donkey Kong, Galaga, Pac-Man, Q*bert, Space Invaders, Frogger, and Centipede, among others.

Oh, let’s not forget Dojo Quest, because Lady Lisa has to come alive, if for no other reason than for the socially awkward Lamonsoff to have his fantasy realized. Indeed, the sword-toting female warrior makes a big mark.

Speaking of women, the major flesh-and-blood version is Michelle Monaghan’s Violet Van Patten, who first meets Brenner when he comes to her house for an installation job. Brenner and Violet don’t exactly hit it off, mostly trading sarcastic barbs and insults.

Coincidentally, Violet happens to be Lieutenant Colonel Van Patten, a trusted military and scientific advisor to the President, one who is in the war room when Cooper summons his old pal Brenner to the White House to offer tactics on fighting the alien invaders.

The fact that video game enthusiasts, known as Arcaders, would be called upon to rescue New York City from a full-scale attack seems too absurd for the military leaders, including Admiral Porter (Brian Cox, having little to do other than express contempt for the gamers).

To wage the war, the government is forced to release Eddie Plant from federal prison. Though he’s still obnoxious and continues to sport a mullet, “The Fire Blaster” also has a large ego, reminding everyone how good he is at video games.

Bad attitude makes Plant the most interesting character to watch. His demands are so ridiculous that he insists on, well, a date with both tennis star Serena Williams and Martha Stewart (both of them making cameo appearances, along with assorted others).

“Pixels” is a Happy Madison Production starring Adam Sandler. This combination alone is enough for many to doubt that this film is much different than other recent Sandler efforts that flopped.

However, in a big change of pace, Sandler is more restrained than usual, allowing Josh Gad and Peter Dinklage to grab plenty of attention for comedic antics.

Younger children won’t grasp a lot of the humor and cultural reference, but will likely enjoy the extensive battle scenes.

“Pixels” has its inevitable flaws, and yet a sense of fun runs through the ultimately breezy comedic action that director Columbus intended to be evocative and nostalgic.
 
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.