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Pixels

PG-13 Released Jul 24, 2015 1h 46m Comedy Action Adventure Fantasy Sci-Fi TRAILER for List
18% Tomatometer 206 Reviews 46% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
When aliens intercept video feeds of classic arcade games and misinterpret them as a declaration of war, they attack Earth, using the games as models. Knowing that he must employ a similar strategy, President Will Cooper (Kevin James) recruits his childhood pal, former video-game champ and home-theater installer Sam Brenner (Adam Sandler), to lead a team of old-school arcade players and a military specialist (Michelle Monaghan) in an all-out battle to save the planet.
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Pixels

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Critics Consensus

Much like the worst arcade games from the era that inspired it, Pixels has little replay value and is hardly worth a quarter.

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Critics Reviews

View All (206) Critics Reviews
Udita Jhunjhunwala Livemint The film catalogues the worst set of performances seen in a while, particularly Dinklage's accent and Gad's pubescent antics. Aug 15, 2019 Full Review Tara Brady Irish Times It's a neat idea for a parody disaster film but it's wholly lost in this melange of underwritten characters and awful dialogue. Rated: 2/4 Mar 7, 2016 Full Review Alison Willmore BuzzFeed News There are scenes in the surreally lazy, occasionally funny Pixels in which Sandler's face slips into the exact same weary, disgruntled expression he wears in Funny People. Nov 10, 2015 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...a fun, innovative premise that is, for the most part, employed to underwhelming and frequently tedious effect... Rated: 2/4 Aug 13, 2022 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review The humor is juvenile and inane, the characters are unbelievable and over-the-top, and the overall temperament is childish. Rated: 1.5/4 Jun 9, 2022 Full Review Nikki Baughan AWFJ.org Monahan is at least given the chance to get her teeth into the role of the army specialist drafted in to help kick some otherworldy ass. Oct 4, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Cliff T This deserves a better rating than it gets. If you grade this by the standards of the type of dumb popcorn movie it is, and like most Adam Sandler movies are, it's great. Turn your brain off and just enjoy a silly premise done fun and funny. It's not high film, but it shouldn't be judged by that standard. I can't imagine this premise being done any better. _Ready Player One_ tries, in a sense, and it was a perfectly serviceable movie based on a lighthearted pop culture novel that will not go down in the annals of literary history. But it often takes itself too seriously and suffers for it. _Pixels_ abandons all pretense of being a serious movie and just embraces being an action comedy full of fanservice for '80s kids. The result is a fun movie if you're willing to just enjoy it for what it tries to be. I'm a huge film nerd, but this isn't a movie to watch like a critic or for its artistry, because although it has good production value, it isn't trying to be art. The only reason I dock a star off of my score is that if anything, it could have leaned into the comedy even more. At times, it feels like its comedic stars are being held back a little, like they were told to stick to the script, or maybe they just kept the straight, "boring" take in the edit. But I still laughed out loud a few times, and the runtime was kept tight enough to remain entertaining throughout. Catch it sometime when you just want a fun, non-challenging movie. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/13/24 Full Review William B Goofy and fun video game movie Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/11/24 Full Review Brayden B Look, it's not perfect. But it's still a great movie. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/25/24 Full Review Audience Member Painfully unfunny, predictable, and headache inducing. The film goes as far as to disregard its own established rules in order to conveniently move the plot forward. Nothing about it is redeeming, not even the performances. If you’re a fan of juvenile humor and one dimensional characters, this is the film for you. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 09/16/24 Full Review Tango D I actually really liked the movie. It had me strangely smiling most of the time. Yeah, its stupid, some of the bits are dumb, but it was speaking to something fundamental not in the gaming culture, but the culture of the gamer itself. Your sense of no self worth, and all that time and energy wasted put to a use that saved the world. It's poetry not set for games but the gamer itself. Sadly, at the time of release I thought it would be bad. 9 years later I watched it, and .. I loved it. It was stupid, it was dumb, outrageously corny but I liked it. I ended up liking it was all those things. It was a drunkenly written love letter that bypassed gaming and was sent directly to the one holding the controller. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/08/24 Full Review Peter-Paul J I absolutely loved this movie. The acting is peak, the CGI is peak, the story is amazing, it's just an absolutely great movie! Definitely worth watching! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/29/24 Full Review Read all reviews
Pixels

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis When aliens intercept video feeds of classic arcade games and misinterpret them as a declaration of war, they attack Earth, using the games as models. Knowing that he must employ a similar strategy, President Will Cooper (Kevin James) recruits his childhood pal, former video-game champ and home-theater installer Sam Brenner (Adam Sandler), to lead a team of old-school arcade players and a military specialist (Michelle Monaghan) in an all-out battle to save the planet.
Director
Chris Columbus
Producer
Allen Covert, Mark Radcliffe, Chris Columbus, Adam Sandler
Screenwriter
Tim Herlihy, Timothy Dowling
Distributor
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Production Co
Columbia Pictures, LStar Capital
Rating
PG-13 (Suggestive Comments|Some Language)
Genre
Comedy, Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 24, 2015, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
May 23, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$78.7M
Runtime
1h 46m
Sound Mix
Dolby Atmos
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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