Review of Pixels (2010) by Brandon L — 28 Oct 2015

Pixels was not NEARLY as bad as critics claimed it was. It's a mindless comedy action science fiction mashup that's got a lot of great visuals to fill in the numerous gaps left by the story.

Where I take issue is that Sandler couldn't resist stuffing the film with language and lewd comments, thus pushing it to PG-13 and ensuring that it wasn't appropriate for families. If it hadn't been for that, I would have quickly forgiven the poor dialogue, plot holes, and dull character development. In exchange for a fun movie night with the kids, I can forgive a lot.

Instead, he creates a movie that's a bit too dumb for adults, but too dirty-minded for kids. He could have had a great PG family movie and probably done a lot better at the box office, what with a general lack of kid-friendly movies and all.

My takeaway: see it if you're an adult with a fondness for old video games. Preview it before you plop your kids down in front of it. Even if they don't get all the game references, they'll enjoy the neon arcade action. Unfortunately, a lot of the language will be inappropriate for younger audiences. (Pro tip: you could compensate by simply skipping any scene where people are having a quiet side conversation.).