PIXELS: Adam Sandler’s Game Over

The arcade was video games’ greatest legacy. In a simpler time, before gaming consoles became mobile and placed within the home, the arcade was at the heart of the world’s most ultimate video gaming experience. As an impact, the popularity of the arcade video games snowballed into the animated characters that we now see onscreen – among them the likes of Donkey Kong and Pac-Man. Even as those characters’ pixelated forms take a turn towards a more lifelike, three-dimensional look, their ability to stand the test of time speaks volume about their legacy and influence.

Inspired by those classic video games, French writer/director Patrick Jean created the 2-minute short film Pixels. Solely relying on artsy animation to record an alien invasion, the short film generated quite a buzz in 2011. Such an ambitious short was sure to catch Hollywood’s eyes. Columbia gave the go-ahead for a feature-length adaptation four years later. Under the helm of an experienced director like Chris Columbus, it had all the necessary ingredients of a tent-pole hit. Unfortunately, critics’ public enemy number one Adam Sandler is the main star, and his performance in Pixels sadly turned out to be his latest joyless entry. As a result, Pixels’ technical wizardry ends up being a nostalgia-driven misfire.

Video Game (Alien) Invasion

The premise of Chris Columbus’ feature-length adaptation of the short Pixels is not too different from the original short. Basically, Earth has been trying to establish peaceful contact with extraterrestrial life. When the chance finally came in 1982, they decided to send a capsule containing the recording of a video game championship into space, in hopes of giving alien civilizations a good impression. Apparently, nothing is more joyful than video games. To the aliens, it meant something very different.

So, when the aliens finally arrive in 2015, they respond to the message with a large-scale invasion. Unlike their usual gelatinous appearances, the aliens take the form of popular 80s arcade game characters. Every object that comes in contact with them vanishes into pixelated dust.

Just as the invasion becomes too much for America’s most qualified military force to handle, President Will Cooper (Kevin James) has no choice but to acquire the service of his childhood friend/former video game prodigy Sam Brenner (Adam Sandler). With the likes of fellow gamer Ludlow Lamonsoff (Josh Gad), his arch-rival Eddie Plant (Peter Dinklage) and Lieutenant Violet Van Patten (Michelle Monaghan), as ridiculous as it may sound, the fate of a nation rests on the hands of a team of avid video gamers.

The Ghostbusters Treatment of Independence Day

With the short Pixels being something of an internet hit in 2011, one way to convince the fans to see its feature length adaptation was by staying true to its source material. The 2015 version of Pixels still retains much of the original’s alien invasion style scenario. Of course, bearing in mind the original was only a 2-minute short, the film required live-action characters and also, most importantly, a three-act plot in order to qualify the film as a motion picture.

Still, for all the playful explosions of color in Patrick Jean’s original work, the Frenchman pretty much left the door open for others to adapt it into whichever genre they chose. To some people, Pixels could have worked as a sci-fi thriller. Reading through the names of the writers and the actors and actresses involved, though, and knowing that most of them are former Saturday Night Live performers, we would have already figured out by now where Pixels headed genre-wise.

Because of the alien invasion trope, it’s no wonder Pixels is pretty much seen by many as a direct spoof of Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day, much like Ivan Reitman’s Ghostbusters was for the exorcism trope in horror movies. Featuring SNL graduates as a majority of its cast and production crew, 1984’s Ghostbusters was comedy gold. It wasn’t meant to be taken seriously in the first place but unlike its modern successors, Reitman and his gang struck an accessible balance between its plot, comedy and characters. Sadly, their juniors’ reunion in Pixels fails to achieve the same result.

Pixels’ take on the alien invasion trope is in every part by-the-book. Unfortunately, the biggest disappointment is the movie’s characters. Understandably, the ex-SNL writers based Sam Brenner and his gang of video game warriors on the image of the Ghostbusters gang. There is even one scene in which Sam and his gang defeat aliens (disguised as characters from the Centipede game) using weapons similar to the Proton Packs found in Ghostbusters. However, Sam and his gang’s character waste reels by making cranky, childish jokes. You’re supposed to root for the protagonist, but you can’t muster more than something halfhearted.

A Walk Down Arcade Lane

It cannot be denied that the 80s arcade game characters are the selling point of Pixels. The 80s was a landmark moment in video game history, so many timeless masterpieces were produced in this decade. They include some of the most recognizable video game icons to this day. Still, while Pixels is marketed as a family-friendly film in the 21st century, the characters that it takes inspiration from are icons mostly for an older generation. So, it was up to special effects studio Sony Pictures Imageworks to reinvent these two-dimensional characters so as to appeal to the younger generation, while not losing the 80s vibe. In terms of the characters’ design, Sony succeeded; they come up with a new look for the characters that fuses the high-definition 3D imagery found in current video games and the pixelated form from the past. Seeing the likes of Pac-Man and Q*Bert roam among us in the real world should evoke at least a little nostalgia within those familiar with them.

For all the flashy animation, though, Pixels can’t replicate the thrill that any avid 80s gamer might have felt playing these games in the past. The sets are false pretense; sweet on the eye, but insipid in taste. Its lack of thrill already becomes clear in the very first action scene. In it, we see an army of Galaga-like aliens attack the U.S. army base and while the aliens are stunningly animated, the blood-and-thunder execution made the scene dull and formulaic.

Comedic Flop

Responsible for another comedic failure is Adam Sandler. Film critics have been unkind about Sandler’s works as of late, even to the point of bullying. But judging by his laugh-free performance in Pixels, every critic’s scathing words about him is well justified.

Pixels’ protagonist Sam Brenner is an exact copy of Sandler’s previous characters. Brenner is another entry in Sandler’s catalogue of nice-guy-with-anger-issues type of roles. Admittedly, these characters were responsible for his rise in fame, but now, years later, he has reached that point where it is sickening view to see him present the same shtick for the umpteenth time. Supposedly a cerebral, naturally funny hero, Sam Brenner instead becomes one of cinema’s most unlikable protagonists through Sandler’s portrayal, and the performances of the supporting cast was no better, who all in all were much too stereotypical for anyone to give a damn.

Conclusion

But Pixels’s tribute towards 80’s video games is instead anything but the joyful experience the makers had intended it to be. Relying on special effect magic and nostalgia, the visual amazement is short-lived, as the formulaic narrative and unappealing characters make this a game over before it ever takes off.

What did you think of Pixels? Did it evoke any nostalgia in you?

(top image source: Columbia Pictures)