If your time is split evenly between longing for the past and lamenting about the present, then you need to see Pixels, a delightfully silly trip down memory lane that the whole family can enjoy.

The film opens with the 1982 World Video Game Championship. Sam Brennan, buoyed by the support of his friend Will Cooper and “Wonderkid” Ludlow Lamansoff, is ready to become the King of the Arcade because he knows the patterns behind the games. He is soon thwarted by Eddie, a child who is inexplicably accompanied by scantily-clad models, and Donkey Kong, a game that did not follow the patterns Sam knew how to beat. Sam loses the game, his confidence and his future. Pretty dramatic consequences, but this is a film straight out of the era of our childhoods. There is no room for subtlety!

As adults, Cooper (Kevin James) is the President of the United States and Brennan (Adam Sandler) is a depressed cable guy who gets to visit the White House because they are still best friends. Brenner soon gets to do more than just wander through life after a military base gets attacked by a real-life video game. It turns out that the footage of the 1982 championship games which was sent out into space by NASA was mistaken for a declaration of war and really pissed the aliens off. The only people who can save the planet are video game nerds Brennan, Cooper, a grown-up Ludlow (Josh Gad) and a military commander with a name straight out of a video game (Violet Van Patten) is played with perfect wry wit by Michelle Monaghan).

Pixels is a nostalgia fest in more ways than one. Hopefully this marks the return of family movies that do not concern themselves too much with plot holes. It’s a film about video games attacking the world, not a spy thriller, so there is no need for every detail of the story to fit into a realistic timeline or be bound by the laws of reality. It also reminds us of the days when Adam Sandler movies were inventive and irreverent instead of idiotic. This movie improves upon the old Sandler magic with excellent casting and more attention to character development. Peter Dinklage’s performance as the grown-up Eddie Plant steals every scene and could justify a sequel on its own. Violet Van Patten is allowed to actually fall for Brennan instead of the typical “impossibly attractive woman is already in love with Sandler’s loser character” tripe that the audience is expected to eat. The exception to this rule is that Jane Krakowski is cast as the First Lady and she barely says a word. She doesn’t even make funny faces. This woman is one of the most hilarious people onscreen and she doesn’t get a single laugh in an Adam Sandler movie. That still bothers me. Writers: she deserved better.

It is not a perfect film by any means, but it is a welcome addition to the summer lineup and to Sandler’s resumé, which has ranged from lackluster to WTF recently. I enjoyed the special effects, the old pop culture references and the brightly colored game characters from years gone by. Please go see it for yourself and let us know what you think. Tip: skip the 3D and feel free to leave once the credits start.

Final Grade: B

About The Author

Stephanie Taylor

Co-Editor/Entertainment Reporter

She may be a traffic engineer by day (hence the ‘stopsigngirl’ alias), but do not let her technical skills or multiple calculators fool you. Stephanie Taylor has a way with words. She will destroy any opponent in Scrabble, and get 50 points for using all 7 of her letters in the word “destroy.” She can a-n-n-i-h-i-l-a-t-e you in a spelling bee, having competed in no less than ten as a child. She uses correct punctuation in her text messages. It’s no wonder that copy editing comes naturally to her, and she is happy to fine tune the work of other writers before it reaches TRR readers.

Proofreading is not all that Stephanie loves to do. Regular reading without the proof is just fine, and she also loves to write. In fact, Steph has been writing since the tender age of 6 when she penned her would-be bestseller Mouse in Jail. It “would be” if all literary critics were in Kindergarten. Since elementary school, Stephanie has helped publish newsletters, yearbooks, and the Arts & Entertainment section of The Rice Thresher, Rice University’s student newspaper.

Stephanie’s other gigs have included singing her heart out in the chorus of My Fair Lady in Houston, doing improv comedy in front of hundreds of people in Atlanta, and teaching A.P. English in Los Angeles. She loves to travel and have cultural adventures like tubing down a river in Ecuador, dancing in a South Asian festival, or riding a ferry from Italy for 19 hours just to get real Greek food. Cooking and Yoga are also among Stephanie’s list of favorite things to do, but she cannot do them at the same time.

This native Texan genuinely adores reporting on entertainment as much as she loves to entertain, and is looking forward to learning more about what the D.C. area has to offer and sharing that news with you.

Stephanie Taylor also likes to write about herself in the third person.

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