'Pixels': A movie needs more than nostalgia to win over audiences
Pixels stars Adam Sandler, Peter Dinklage, and Josh Gad as video game experts who must take down real-life versions of game characters. But critics are saying the film relies solely on memories audience members would have of these characters without supplying satisfying humor or a good story.
'Pixels' is directed by Chris Columbus.
Courtesy of Sony Pictures/AP
鈥淧ixels,鈥� a movie about video game champions battling real-life versions of famous characters, stars Adam Sandler and Peter Dinklage and opens on July 24.
In the film, aliens attack Earth and are inspired in doing so by '80s video game characters like Q*bert and Pac-Man, and the president (Kevin James) decides that the people most equipped to deal with this problem are those who have spent hours fighting the characters onscreen. Characters played by Sandler, Dinklage, and Josh Gad of 鈥淔rozen鈥� step up to try to take down the attackers.聽
Sandler鈥檚 recent work includes the little-seen 2014 movie 鈥淭he Cobbler鈥� and the 2014 movies 鈥淭op Five鈥� and 鈥淏lended,鈥� while Dinklage stars as court plotter Tyrion Lannister on the HBO fantasy series 鈥淕ame of Thrones.鈥�
The movie, which banks on the nostalgia audience members would feel when seeing a large version of a video game character like Donkey Kong, continues the trend of Hollywood betting big on audiences wanting to be reminded of entertainment experiences they鈥檝e already had. This summer saw the release of 鈥淭erminator Genisys,鈥� the newest film and a reboot of the classic science fiction film series, while this December will see the release of a new 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� film, complete with original series stars Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill.聽
However, for some audience members, nostalgia by itself isn鈥檛 enough to make a film interesting. One called the film鈥檚 storyline 鈥渕oronic,鈥� while found the film鈥檚 humor to 鈥渟eldom hit the mark鈥� and one wrote that the film has 鈥渟oul-sucking emptiness鈥� lazy.鈥澛�
In addition, some feel the pull of nostalgia isn鈥檛 enough for audience members to not notice when an idea for a film is similar to a very recent one. Some critics pointed out the similarities between 鈥淧ixels鈥� and the 2012 Disney animated film 鈥淲reck-It Ralph,鈥� which centered on an original video game character of the same name but featured cameos by various classic video game characters including Bowser, Mario, and Sonic the Hedgehog as well as Q*bert, who also pops up in 鈥淧ixels.鈥� One wrote that the movie is mostly 鈥溾�橶reck-It Ralph鈥� novelty without the character development,鈥� while wrote that 鈥渨ithin the rarefied realm of 1980s video game nostalgia, 鈥楶ixels鈥� is no 鈥榃reck-It Ralph.鈥欌��