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It’s been awhile since an Adam Sandler film intrigued me, let alone an Adam Sandler comedy. Yet, here comes Pixels. Directed by Chris Columbus (Home Alone, The Goonies), Pixels looks like it has the right mix of family-friendly appeal with content that will tap into adults’ sense of nostalgia.
In the world of Pixels, NASA sent out a time capsule in 1982 to find alien life. However, once they made contact, the act was misinterpreted by the aliens as a threat, resulting in a wide-scale attack. The irony is the alien utilized imagery from the video games NASA sent to represent their attacks, leading ’80s video game icons like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong to wreak havoc on the world. Of course, the only way the world can fight back is by reaching out to various ’80s gaming champions to utilize their strategies to defeat the aliens. Sam Brenner (Adam Sandler) heads up a team of former gaming champions (Peter Dinklage and Josh Gad) to fight back.
What separates Pixels from the typical Happy Madison production is Columbus’s involvement. While his films have been a bit stale in recent years, he understands the dynamics of a kid-friendly film mixed with enough excitement and nostalgia to attract older audiences. What’s more, video game characters are front-and-center. There’ll probably some lame jokes that don’t hit and the typical brand of Sandler-style comedy. However, I’m willing to stand it just to see if Columbus still has it in him.
Pixels will be in theaters on July 24th.