Adam Sandler receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in California on February 2013.
Video game experts Sam Brenner, Will Cooper, Ludlow Lamonoff, and Eddie Plant are the only ones capable of saving humanity when alien lifeforms declare war on Earth. NASA sent a time capsule, which included classic arcade games into space in order to contact extraterrestrial lifeforms in the 1980s. The aliens mistake the message as a declaration of war and begin attacking mankind with Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Galaga, Centipede, and Space Invaders. 'Pixels' hit theaters on Friday, July 24. The film was rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America.
RogerEbert.Com rated the film 1.5/4. IMDb rated the film 4.8/10 based on 1,795 user ratings. Metacritic gave the film a Metascore of 27, based on 32 critic reviews. It received 2 positive reviews, 9 mixed reviews, and 21 negative reviews. Its User Score is 3.3, based on 20 ratings. Rotten Tomatoes rated the film 20% on its Tomatometer. Its average rating is 3.8/10, based on 84 reviews. It received 17 Fresh reviews and 67 Rotten reviews. Its Audience Score is 61%. Its average rating is 3.4/5, based on 42,227 user ratings.
"Pixels' stars Adam Sandler as Sam Brenner, Anthony Ippolito as teenage Sam, Kevin James as President Will Cooper, Jared Riley as teenage Will, Josh Gad as Ludlow Lamonsoff, Jacob Shinder as young Ludlow, Peter Dinklage as Eddie Plant, Andrew Bambridge as teenage Eddie, Michelle Monaghan as Lieutenant Colonel Violet van Patten, Matt Lintz as Matty, Brian Cox as Admiral Porter, Ashley Benson as Lady Lisa, Jane Krakowski as Carolyn Cooper, Denis Akiyama as Toru Iwatani, Sean Bean as Corporal Hill, Affion Crockett as Sergeant Dylan Cohan, Dan Aykroyd as 1982 Championship MC, Lainie Kazan as Mickey Lamonsoff, Serena Williams, Martha Stewart, and Toru Iwatani as a repairman.
The film was directed by Chris Columbus and edited by Hughes Winborne. It was produced by Adam Sandler, Chris Columbus, Allen Covert, Mark Radcliffe, and Michael Barnathan. The screenplay is by Tim Herlihy and Timothy Dowling. The story is by Tim Herlihy. "Pixels' is based on a French short film by Patrick Jean, with the same title. The $88 million budget film features music by Henry Jackman. Cinematography is by Amir Mokri. The production companies behind the film are Happy Madison Productions and 1492 Pictures. The film was distributed by Columbia Pictures. The film runs for 1 hour and 46 minutes.
Kevin James at Hollywood Walk of Fame in February 2011.
Best Movie Reviews by Top Critics:
"Often fun and fanciful, though kids may not get the endless 1980s references," wrote Rafer Guzman from Newsday. Guzman rated the film 2.5/4 stars.
"Pixels is without wit, without jokes, with nothing to say but plenty to regurgitate," wrote John Semley from The Globe and Mail. Semley rated the film 0.5/4 stars.
"Ostensibly a hybrid of an Adam Sandler lovable schlub vehicle with a kids' picture nostalgia piece," wrote Mark Olsen from Los Angeles Times.
"Pixels" is a special-effects eyeful burdened by the fact that it is also yet another film in which Adam Sandler plays a man-child who somehow turns the head of an attractive woman," wrote Neil Genzlinger from The New York Times.
"This amiable Ghostbusters knockoff is unusually competent for a Sandler comedy," wrote Ben Sachs from Chicago Reader.
"Pixels" may feel flatter to kids of the '80s than it does to moviegoers too young to have known Pac-Man from Ant-Man," wrote Tom Russo from Boston Globe.
"While the concept is a cut above the usual Sandler swill, the comedy isn't," wrote Peter Howell from Toronto Star.
