It’s been a long while since we saw the brilliance of old school arcade games getting the attention they deserve at the cinema, but in Christopher Columbus’ upcoming movie, Pixels (2015), the balance is due a minor modern redress. With the genius of eighties classics like Wizard and Flight Of The Navigator, it was hard to see the 2015 release coming close to the genius of the past, but as a slightly salubrious Popeye The Sailor Man once said, any port in a storm. Luckily, they’ve managed to get enough right, building on the strength of the trailer, which you can watch below, to keep all of the fading arcade games addicts left in the world happy; us included.
Release date
Pixels had its UK release date on the 8th August 2015, which put it firmly in place to go for the summer comedy hit status with Pong-like precision, following on from it’s US release on the 24th July 2015. It didn’t necessarily outrun all of the competition, but if it did pull things together with an element of Double Dragon might and punched out the jokes like a duck hunting for bread in an asteroid field littered with giant centipede’s, which gave it the killer instinct to win over the movie-loving arcade game fans out there.
The trailer for Pixels was released in March 2015, which gave us our first real glimpse of what to expect from the film. One of the biggest and most impressive elements is the special effects that go alongside the relative comedy merits of the film. They’ve managed to give the old characters a very cool shining pixel style that works very well in the wonder of 3D as everything from Space Invaders to Donkey Kong and Pac-Man puts in an appearance as the aliens try everything in their new-found classic arcade game arsenal to bring about the downfall of Earth.
The movie has been confirmed for a DVD release date in the UK of the 7th December 2015, and in the US it will be out on the 27th October. It’ll also be available on Blu-ray, Blu0ray 3D and digital download on the same dates.
Story
The storyline for Pixels is inspired by the 2010 French animated short film of the same name, written and directed by Patrick Jean. It’s a fairly simple premise of crazy stupidity that’s hard not to get behind as Aliens attack Earth having seen video footage of classic arcade games and misinterpreted them as a direct declaration of war.
When they launch their attack using the games as the foundation of their war tactics, the President of the United States, William Cooper, is left with no other option than to recruit his childhood friend and former classic arcade game champion, Sam Brenner, to take the fight to the deranged alien scourge. Building a crack team of arcade game legends, they suit up in random Arcader uniforms (check out the image above or the trailer below to see them in action) to test their joystick waggling skills against the invaders from outer space.
Cast
Adam Sandler (Hotel Transylvania 2) takes on the role of the former gaming child prodigy and current TV installation guy, Sam, with regular collaborator Kevin James (who also stars in upcoming animated movie, Hotel Transylvania 2) taking on the role of President Cooper. They’re joined in the arcader team by Josh Gadd (Frozen) as conspiracy theory and gaming powerhouse, Ludlow Lamonsoff, and Peter Dinklage (X-Men: Days Of Future Past) as loud-mouth former champion arcade gamer and current felon, Eddie Plant.
In addition to Sandler, James, Dinklage and Gadd, the film also stars Michelle Monaghan (Due Date) as Lieutenant Colonel Violet van Patten, Sam’s love interest and military tech aid to the president. Brian Cox (who starred in X-Men: Days Of Future Past alongside Dinklage) plays the overbearing Admiral Porter and Jane Krakowski (who you might recognise as the babysitter in Fatal Attraction, or as Elaine Vassal in Ally McBeal) plays the president’s wife, Jane.
There are also a fair few cameos to look out for, including Ashley Benson (Springbreakers) as the reincarnation of Lady Lisa, a stunning warrior princess from the fictional computer game, Dojo Quest, along with Sean Bean (The Martian) as Corporal Hill from the British military, Dan Aykroyd as the compere of the 1982 video games Championship, and Serena Williams as herself.
Production
Pixels has been directed by Chris Columbus, who hasn’t been behind the director’s chair since his last film Applebaum, although he was recently one of the co-producers of Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. The story was written by Tim Herlihy, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Timothy Dowling.
Review
You’ve only got to take a quick look at the image above to start to question the seriousness of the film, but there are a few things that win you around if you’re a slightly biased, arcade-games loving geek like us. It is silly and ridiculous, but it’s also fun, action packed and has some of the better special effects and 3D visuals that you’ll be lucky enough to see this year on the big screen.
Added to that is the presence of Josh Gadd, who’s face you might not necessarily recognise, but when you know that he was recently the voice of Olaf, the talking snowman in Disney’s Frozen, you’ll see why Pixels manages to land more than a few good jokes. Having Chris Columbus (Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb) as the director is a big plus too, considering his previous work on family gems like Home Alone, Mrs Doubtfire, Gremlins and The Goonies, and there’s definitely a lot of 80s nostalgia to look out for.
While Adam Sandler’s past efforts have been a bit on the miss side of the equation, this is one of his better films, and the same goes for Kevin James too. Here Comes The Boom and Funny People were pretty decent comedy outings, but I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry was a significant let down from the pair, so you can never really tell what you’re going to get. The good news is that they did the history of gaming enough justice when it’s release date rolled around this summer to make 2015 feel a lot like it was 1982 once again. Check out the trailer below to get a good idea of what to expect from the film and you can read our full Pixels movie review for more details.
 movie details, trailer and release date from the film section of Tuppence Magazine, with the storyline and cast for the old school arcade games movie.){kind=link}