Pixels appeals to both parents (thanks to its all encompassing nod to 80s video games) and kids alike.  It’s fun, loud and VERY silly.

Contributor Thuy On very enthusiastically reviewed this film for us – sounds like they had a lot of fun.

Generation Xers even more so than young kids would love this new movie squarely pitched to those who grew up in the 80s and played video games like PAC-MAN, Tetris, and Donkey Kong.

Adam Sandler’s character Sam Brenner is one such obsessive, and in his misspent youth he was an aficionado. Sadly his point-and-shoot, hand & eye coordination skills didn’t count to much in the real world and when he grew up he became a boring technology installer man, a big nerd but without the money or the credibility.

But Brenner finally gets to prove himself (and win the sceptical girl of course) when aliens start to attack using highly charged, souped up pixels of these very computer games that Brenner spent so much time trying to master in video arcades. Soon it’s up to him and his mates (including a very funny frenemy Peter Dinklage) to save the world using their gaming skills. (Apparently there was some intergalactic confusion: the original 80s games were sent in a time capsule via NASA to space as part of some cultural artefact, but the aliens took it as a declaration of war and thus decided to retaliate).

Don’t bother to look too closely into this outlandish plot – we are here for the CG video game characters and Pixels certainly delivers. It’s fun, loud and very silly. 

The violence is cartoon-like, with people and buildings merely pixellated when the oversized space invaders like PAC-MAN and his electronic cohorts go on the rampage. The soundtrack may be a bit too loud for the very young however and indeed some of the ideas and backstory a bit hard for them to comprehend so recommended for mid-primary upwards. The romance meanwhile, never goes beyond smooching. This is one movie with huge crossover appeal and adults will be happy to accompany junior to Pixels for a heady rush of nostalgia.