The Sunday Mail
THERE is no school like the old school! It might be one of the oldest clichés in the books, but it was the first thing that came to mind after watching Adam Sandler’s latest offering “Pixels”.
It seems Sandler, one of my favourite filmmakers and comedians of the late ‘90s, has certainly hit hard times — he has caught the ire of movie critics worldwide due to his fascination with one-dimensional characters, crude humour and annoying habit of always finding a role for his childhood buddies particularly Rob Schneider and most recently Kevin James.
However, the guy is not as bad as some would like to make him — he has two qualities I admire that have set him apart from his peers. Firstly, he is a self-made man. After leaving the comic sketch programme “Saturday Night Live” and failing to find takers for his sense of humour, he went into business for himself and found much success from releasing movies through his production company Happy Madison.
At one time he was one of Hollywood’s biggest properties churning out a string of US$100 million movies. Secondly, I admire the way he has stayed faithful to quality film making — staying true to comedy, storytelling and themes rather than selling out to the CGI culture that Hollywood has become.
Now, “Pixels” at its very core is a love letter to an era when things were good — the ‘80s and ‘90s. As a product of that era, nothing brought me more joy than watching a good flick and playing video games.
While my peers were out there playing in mud and getting into all sorts of mischief, I was locked up in my room indulging myself in one of the two and sometimes both at the same time.
Now what Sandler has done with this film is bring up a strong sense of nostalgia, particularly for those from that era. In fact, as I penned this review, I could not help remember the few friends I shared these moments of joy with — Tetris, Donkey Kong and Super Mario, were the only pastime for nerds and the less athletic like me.
“Pixels” tells the story of Sam Brenner (Sandler), a one-time gaming prodigy, forced to reunite with childhood friends Will Cooper (Kevin James) and Ludlow Lamonsoff (Josh Gad) when an alien race invades earth in the form of old school video games.
The three had slowly and miserably integrated themselves into adulthood with Cooper now a hated United States president while Lamonsoff is an abrasive conspiracy nut who still lives with his mum.
As for Brenner, he now works for a company he loathes and has no future prospects whatsoever.
Bring in the aliens and the three are forced to reunite, as the planet requires their particular set of skills and experience at old school video games to protect mother earth.
Now, the first thing I loved about this film is that it is not like any other Adam Sandler movie. Yes, he has a slew of crude jokes and running gags, has a hot leading lady he woos without any effort on his part and employees a string of relatives and old friends — most of whom are unqualified or lack talent, but what sets this film apart from your typical Sandler movie, is that it actually has a strong premise and tonnes of heart.
I don’t think if the script had been given to anyone else, they would have come up with a better film. While it may be a comedy about video games and aliens, the film really delves on the friendship of these three men who go from childhood buddies to estranged adults and back to kindred spirits.
The casting is also another merit worth noting and here I would like to start by expressing my joy that Rob Schneider does not make a single appearance throughout the entire movie.
Josh Gad (Frozen and Wedding Ringer) and Peter Dinklage of Games of Thrones really shine in this movie. Dinklage stars as an over the top Video game expert Eddie “Master Blaster” Plant, who happens to be a childhood rival of Brenner that they release from prison to help fight the aliens.
Dinklage stars like you have never seen him, showing comedy chops no one really knew existed. Gad, on the other hand, is well known for his delivery, which is a mixture of Jim Carrey and Nicholas Cage.
At the rate his stock is rising, this time next year Gad could well be the go to guy in the genre. James is at his lovable goofy self, Sandler mellow as usual and I must say that I was surprised to see Brian Cox and Sean Bean sign on for the movie as they add nothing really to the film.
Their star power has fizzled out over the years, comedy is not really their area of expertise and most importantly their performances were just plain awful.
Also watch out for cameos by Serena Williams and Martha Stewart.
