The best Adam Sandler movie in over a decade, "Pixels" was perhaps Sandler's last chance to bring quality to his core audience, and he did. Sort of. In a way.
Let's qualify this a little, shall we? By "Adam Sandler movie" we can exclude things like 2002's "Punch Drunk Love," (it's a Paul Thomas Anderson flick) and even 2009's "Funny People" (a Judd Apatow joint), but not fare like the "Grown Ups" movies, "Jack and Jill," and "You Don't Mess with the Zohan," which are all clearly Sandler vehicles.
Where those films go wrong..."Pixels" also at times goes wrong as well. The plot, as relates to the characters and their motivations, are paper thin, giving us the feeling that they exist solely as a way to advance this rather outlandish plot; some of the jokes and the banter fall a little short, and feel as if they could have been made up on the spot rather than as part of a well-developed script; and there are some things that we as an audience just cannot fully buy into.
Sandler plays Brenner, who is a tech equipment installer who, as a child, was a finalist for the first-ever Video Game Championships. Years later he is the poster boy for missed opportunities, with a buddy (Kevin James) who went on to become President of the United States.
As the legend goes, those video game championships were video taped and placed into a space capsule that was shot out into the cosmos...for some reason. Intercepted by extraterrestrials who mistook video games for our form of war, they took the tape as a challenge to their world.
In retaliation, the aliens send a mother ship to Earth full of 80s-era video game characters disguised as weapons of mass destruction. The two sides battle with video game rules (for example, when the aliens drop a giant Pac-Man on the city, humans have to play the role of the ghosts), and the first side with three victories wins...then takes a trophy from the other side in the form of a living being.
After the military is quickly overwhelmed, their traditional weapons proving ineffective, the President calls on the "Arcaders," comprised of his pal Brenner and some other characters: the arrogant champion Eddie (Peter Dinklage) and the socially stunted Ludlow (Josh Gad). Armed with light weapons a la "Ghostbusters," the Arcaders level the playing field.
The result is far more fun than it has any right to be, with occasionally thrilling and, yes, funny action sequences involving "real life" games of "Centipede" and "Pac Man," along with a climcatic battle where Sandler and co. play the role of Jumpman versus Donkey Kong.
It's all so delightfully silly that those who cut their teeth in the 80s will look upon fondly. The pop culture-inspired messages from the aliens (with them taking the form of 80s icons like Ricardo Montalban and Herve Villechaize, Hall and Oates, and Madonna) are fun if less than original, and some of the jokes even work.
This is also Sandler at his most restrained, playing the straight man and relying on banter rather than silly antics, and it's worth noting that there's not a single dwarf joke lobbed Dinklage's way; his physical appearance may be part of the joke, but only a subtle one, as any actor theoretically could play his over-the-top, ultra-cocky video game champ.
I went into "Pixels" expecting modern Sandler--dull, lazy, and unfunny--and got a movie of the same quality as those other films. But there is a spark to the movie as well, and there are the usual cameos, including a couple that are a little on the surprising side.
If you are have been a fan of Adam Sandler in years gone by, but, like me have kind of given up on him, give this one a shot. You may be pleasantly surprised.