**
out of ****
Adam
Sandler clearly surrounds himself in life with yes men. He writes
ridiculously self-indulgent “comedy” that he thinks is funny –
him doing stupid voices, acting like an annoying psycho loser, making
faces like a kid in a mirror, and spouting a non-stop array of potty jokes.
The yes-men around him tell him that it's funny, so he just keeps on
doing the same crap, usually getting even more self-indulgently
stupid to “push the envelope”.
To paraphrase Sandler's old SNL coworker Dennis Miller: At least that's my opinion; I could be wrong.
And it's too bad, because when he actually has some material to work with, Sandler is funny. Often extremely funny. There are still scenes in “The Wedding Singer” and “Happy Gilmore” and “Fifty First Dates” that I crack up at. But they are always overshadowed by the childish crap.....
“Pixels” at least isn't a complete waste of celluloid. It isn't Sandler's strongest effort, but it has some entertainment value, some pretty cool special effects, and a clear and obvious appeal to the 40-to-50 year old nerd set.
Way back in the early 80s, Sam Brenner (Sandler) was an arcade champion. He could recognize patterns within video games that let him know what the game was going to do next. But at the age of 13 he is crushed when he loses the World Video Game Championships to “Fire Blaster” (Peter Dinklage). Sam's best friend Will (Kevin James) is unable to console him, and Sam goes on to never really make much of himself.
However, at that World Championship it's said that the USA is launching some video games into space as an attempt to communicate with aliens, which becomes part of the central plot. Fast forward 35 years and aliens are arriving, having taken the video games as a challenge to war. They have designed real-life versions of some of the classic arcade games with which they attack Earth. In one of the movie's funnier moments we find that Will has grown up to be the President of the United States, and he recruits Sam and Fire Blaster to try to defeat the aliens.
It's actually kind of a fun and clever plotline, and the scenes of a Centipede attack on Hyde Park and a giant Pacman war in New York City are really quite terrific ones. The special effects are great and it's all well executed. But Sandler's periodic juvenile self indulgence shines through in many places, and James' almost equally stupid schtick do everything they can to ruin the film. Josh Gad's turn as Ludlow, a beyond-weird conspiracy geek, has some really fun moments but most of his “comedy” also falls flat.
I expect this movie to appeal greatly to younger kids – the 9 to 13 year old set, and possibly even become somewhat of a cult classic to the folks that still love to spend time on classic arcade games. By that I mean guys that would feel at home with most of the recreational activities seen on the “Big Bang Theory”.
And I will admit to having some laughs at the film and kind of liking it in many places (unlike all of Sandler's recent movies). But the childishness of some of the execution makes it impossible for me to really recommend.
To paraphrase Sandler's old SNL coworker Dennis Miller: At least that's my opinion; I could be wrong.
And it's too bad, because when he actually has some material to work with, Sandler is funny. Often extremely funny. There are still scenes in “The Wedding Singer” and “Happy Gilmore” and “Fifty First Dates” that I crack up at. But they are always overshadowed by the childish crap.....
“Pixels” at least isn't a complete waste of celluloid. It isn't Sandler's strongest effort, but it has some entertainment value, some pretty cool special effects, and a clear and obvious appeal to the 40-to-50 year old nerd set.
Way back in the early 80s, Sam Brenner (Sandler) was an arcade champion. He could recognize patterns within video games that let him know what the game was going to do next. But at the age of 13 he is crushed when he loses the World Video Game Championships to “Fire Blaster” (Peter Dinklage). Sam's best friend Will (Kevin James) is unable to console him, and Sam goes on to never really make much of himself.
However, at that World Championship it's said that the USA is launching some video games into space as an attempt to communicate with aliens, which becomes part of the central plot. Fast forward 35 years and aliens are arriving, having taken the video games as a challenge to war. They have designed real-life versions of some of the classic arcade games with which they attack Earth. In one of the movie's funnier moments we find that Will has grown up to be the President of the United States, and he recruits Sam and Fire Blaster to try to defeat the aliens.
It's actually kind of a fun and clever plotline, and the scenes of a Centipede attack on Hyde Park and a giant Pacman war in New York City are really quite terrific ones. The special effects are great and it's all well executed. But Sandler's periodic juvenile self indulgence shines through in many places, and James' almost equally stupid schtick do everything they can to ruin the film. Josh Gad's turn as Ludlow, a beyond-weird conspiracy geek, has some really fun moments but most of his “comedy” also falls flat.
I expect this movie to appeal greatly to younger kids – the 9 to 13 year old set, and possibly even become somewhat of a cult classic to the folks that still love to spend time on classic arcade games. By that I mean guys that would feel at home with most of the recreational activities seen on the “Big Bang Theory”.
And I will admit to having some laughs at the film and kind of liking it in many places (unlike all of Sandler's recent movies). But the childishness of some of the execution makes it impossible for me to really recommend.
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