Review of Pixels (2015) by Thequietgamer — 03 Nov 2015

Children of the 80's should get a kick out of the near-constant stream of references. Flashy special effects and some pretty nice action scenes make it the best looking Sandler movie to come out in a while. It is still very much a Happy Madison/Sandler film. That should tell you all you need know about the humor at this point. The jokes are immature and the whole thing is a huge celebration of the man child.

If you are one of the types who have already moved on from the humor associated with Sandler films and have been disappointed with his recent works then, quite simply, don't watch this. No amount of 80's videogame throwbacks will make this funny for you. Those of us who still enjoy Sandler and the type of humor his films contain will find plenty to laugh at here, although surprisingly very little of it comes from the man himself or his usual associates.

Josh Gad and Peter Dinklage are the show-stealers here. They along with several great cameo actors (Sean Bean is particularly hilarious) are the ones who bring the real laughs. Sandler is just sort of there as the main character. He gets some funny lines here and there, but mostly he's just around to carry the story and the shallow romance. His performance is shockingly lazy. Critics have always criticized him for that over the years, but this is the first time I've actually agreed with them on that. He is very clearly not trying at all. Kevin James is almost unnoticeable.

It isn't until Gad and Dinklage show up that the laughs really start to get going. Dinklage in particular is phenomenal. You can tell he's having a blast and he nails some of the movies funniest moments. Gad's talented. He holds up the majority of the film singlehandedly until Dinklage's character comes onscreen to help him out. It's a shame we are treated to a rather slow start that's lacking in laughs thanks to Sandler's lack of effort. I love the guy, but he doesn't bring anything to the table this time around outside of his name.

While some disappointment rear their ugly heads, this love letter to 80's videogames is one worth watching provided you enjoy the humor of recent Sandler films. It might not stand out as the best of Happy Madison's repertoire, and it won't do anything to please their detractors, but there is enough humor here to make it worth a watch for fans, even if Sandler does bring his A game. Or any game at all.

I give "Pixels" a 7.5/10.