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Published: 2015-08-01 18:47:22 +0000 UTC; Views: 767; Favourites: 2; Downloads: 7
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So went to see two movies last week and I waited a little while before writing my review to ensure my imediate feelings werent the ones I put down. With that said, we'll start with the first movie I saw, Pixels.Spoiler Free
Bad. This was just... it was bad. Not much else to say about it, review over.
Ok so not really but it was pretty bad. Adam Sandler's Happy Madison company made this one, so what a surprise, it is about as terrible as their movies usually are. The basic plot is that we sent a probe into space with things to represent earth's culture, such as old arcade game footage. Well apparently aliens did get it... but they thought the arcade games were a declaration of war... somehow, that's never explained... and sent down the old characters to do battle with us... why they only used the arcade game stuff and nothing else that was in the probe is also never explained. So yeah, it sounds pretty bad but it could at least be a fun and cheesey ride right?
Well... no. Not really. This is a classic example of how a bad plot can be saved by good characters. We might not care about the story at all, but if we like the characters and have a fun ride with them, then it tends to work out anyway. Major reason I think Characters are way more important than story, if you asked me about that debate. To bad these characters were bland, uninteresting and were nothing short of boring. Ergo we have a dumb plot and characters we don't care about in said dumb plot.
With that said, visually this film is appealing. The arcade characters do look pretty good, though it's clear they aren't actually there and it's just CGI, they at least look nice and move fairly fluently. The Pacman sequence in particular was enjoyable to watch. though it left with more questions then answers. The movies visuals are really the only thing I can say I did like about it, since pretty much everything else from story telling, character development, music, etc was bland at best. They also were quite fond of We will rock you, as the song is played at least twice, possibly three times throughout the film. Enjoyable song... but still comes up a bit much.
So what about kids? Would kids enjoy it? I have to say no to that too. Although I think kids would like the colorful visuals and some of the jokes... there's a lot of references and jokes to old games, play styles, adult oriented jokes, etc that I think would leave kids confused or that they wouldn't really find that funny even if they did get it, since many of them play on Nostalgia more so than anything else.
So my final comment, when it comes out on DVD, look up the Pacman sequence on Youtube, I'm sure it'll be there. It was pretty much the only scene I thought was worth anything, but certanly not good enough to sit through the whole thing for.
Spoilers
So I came to see this movie with friends msotly because I had heard it was bad and I was curious just how bad it was. Well... yeah it was pretty bad. The film opens up promising enough, with good morals, such as making a little girl cry by stealing her lemonade money so you can pay video games at the arcade. Wonderful.
Jokes aside, the film is basically about a probe that was launched into space containing memorabilia from earth in an attempt to contact alien life. Well this probe apparently had footage from old arcade games (and a few other things) and the aliens did get it. However they decided it was a declaration of war and sent down versions of the video game's characters to attack, such as the ships from Galaga, Pac man, Centipede, etc. Why they don't send anything else that was in the pod was never explained but that's what they do. Well Earth's military apparently sucks at fighting arcade characters, so they call in video game experts.
Adam Sandler plays a drunk loser that sucks with the ladies and has nothing special about him in any way and has to learn to overco... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! No, of course not! Adam Sandler plays Adam Sandler, you know, the guy who is super good at whatever he needs to be good at even if there's no way or explanation as to why he's good at it, fails at absolutely nothing, and for some reason ladies just fall for him and the ones that don't realize in the end how amazing and wonderful Adam Sandler is. All the other characters are boring as hell and there's no reason to talk about them beyond this. Love interest who is, a strong independent women who doesn't need no man!!! Until Sandler shows up of course. Next we have wimpy, geeky side kick, threw in a special touch about him being a conspiracy freak... but that's about it. Next we have tough guy that even the great Adam Sandler couldn't conquer... only to find out... he cheated and isn't as good as they thought, ergo Sandler is amazing again.
So anyway Adam Sue Sandler is called in to help these poor, helpless military guys defeat the Video game characters. Alright so Sandler stays in the back right, giving suggestions on how to win? You haven't seen an Adam Sandler movie if you think that is true. No he gets into the fight and apparently just as good at fighting the video game characters in real life as he is at beatting them at the arcade and is way better at it than the trained military soldiers... even though he has had 0 training with a gun, as a professional driver, arcobatic, martial artist, etc. He and his team just can do those kinds of things now.
So as you'd guess Sandler and his team win in the end. However there was plenty more stupid to go, in the film, the aliens contact us via videos. I assume using the videos that were in the pod, but anyway they appear as people and more or less treat warfare like a game. We have three lives, they have three lives. Every battle we win, the lose a life, every battle they win, we lose one. This is the only way we ever "see" the aliens. Even when they board the freaking ship, the final opponent is Donkey Kong and we never see aliens on the ship either. Even after the aliens have been defeated, we still never see or hear from them ever again, they just kind of disappear and we assume that everything is good.
I won't touch the Qbert turning into a woman scene with a ten foot poll (or the creepy baby thing) but there was a lot of stuff that was not explained. The aliens thought it was a declaration of war for no apparent reason, Qbert was apparently a trophy for winning, yet it is latter called a traitor. Again, Sandler is a perfect shot, driver, etc, with no explanation as to how, he doesn't think he can beat Donkey Kong because he wasn't the best... even though he was second place and there's no reason he wouldn't be good at it, etc.
So did everything fail? Well... I did actually like the Pac man scene, it was fun and visually appealing. I would recommend checking that scene out on Youtube when it appears there, and it will, but it wasn't good enough to recommend seeing the film just for that. They also were very fond of playing We will Rock you, which plays at least twice, which was entertaining enough I suppose.
So yeah my vote is don't bother here. I would wait for the Pacman scene on youtube, since nothing else in this film is really worth bothering with.
Next movie is gonna be Ant-man, that review will be released soon.
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Comments: 14
Ascalion36 [2015-08-01 18:49:30 +0000 UTC]
Is the film really bad? I was thinking about seeing it this august...
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
PM-James In reply to Ascalion36 [2015-08-01 18:56:02 +0000 UTC]
It was Mediocre for the most part, it was bad but I wouldn't say it was the worst film like some other people I've seen reviewing it have said. If you bring some buddies to laugh about it latter than it probably be fine, that's what I did. I'd say the Pac man sequence was the only thing I think was particularly fun and enjoyable, the rest hovered in ok to bad.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Ascalion36 In reply to PM-James [2015-08-01 18:57:30 +0000 UTC]
I see...
Can we make a Drinking Game out of this film?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
PM-James In reply to Ascalion36 [2015-08-01 19:03:06 +0000 UTC]
Probably, have to think about it but it could probably work, probably something with Adam Sandler's Mary Sue esc nature I would think.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Ascalion36 In reply to PM-James [2015-08-01 19:06:10 +0000 UTC]
Wait...
There is a mary sue in the film?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
PM-James In reply to Ascalion36 [2015-08-01 19:11:21 +0000 UTC]
Well Adam Sandler tends to be one in Happy Madison films, he's perfect at everything he does even if there's no explanation as to how he'd be good at it, he pretty much never fails at anything, women find him irresistible (and if they don't, they do latter), he's never bad at anything or does anything wrong really, if he is found to be losing or not the best it's because the other guy cheated or something like that, etc.
It's not the worst offender in this film but it's definitely there.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Ascalion36 In reply to PM-James [2015-08-01 19:13:42 +0000 UTC]
Darn. What a bummer...
Is there anything else I should watch out for when I watch the film?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
PM-James In reply to Ascalion36 [2015-08-01 19:18:59 +0000 UTC]
Well... stuff that is not explained or not explained well could work for a drinking game too I think, like why the aliens thought the pod was a declaration of war, how Sandler and his team are good at fighting these guys even though playing an arcade game does not teach you how to be an expert marks men, stuff like that.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Ascalion36 In reply to PM-James [2015-08-01 19:20:46 +0000 UTC]
Got it. When something lacks an explanation, take a shot.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
PM-James In reply to Ascalion36 [2015-08-01 19:27:47 +0000 UTC]
Have fun and don't get to sick XD
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
PM-James In reply to Ascalion36 [2015-08-01 19:37:22 +0000 UTC]
no as in sick from taking shots.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Ascalion36 In reply to PM-James [2015-08-01 19:38:21 +0000 UTC]
How can a Soft drink cause sick-ness?''
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
PM-James In reply to Ascalion36 [2015-08-01 19:47:04 +0000 UTC]
Oh soft drinks, I thought you were using alcohol, ok never mind. Have fun anyway XD
👍: 0 ⏩: 0