Chris Columbus has had his share of misfires, but there may be no filmmaker more underrated for delivering crowd pleasing blockbuster entertainment (and we mean that in the best possible way). This is the man who directed “Home Alone,” “Mrs. Doubtfire” and the first two “Harry Potter” movies and produced “The Help” and, for better or worse, all three “Night at the Museum” movies. Is “Pixels” his next slam dunk?
Inspired by Patrick Jean's 2010 short film, “Pixels” tells us what happens when aliens believe our attempts at communication are a declaration of war and attack our planet with weapons that just happen to be in the form of some classic video game characters. It's also an Adam Sandler film which you can tell not just because both he and Kevin James are in it, but the fact he has a “story” and top “producer” credit (as opposed to a contractual “executive producer” credit, but I digress…). No, this isn't Sandler just showing up, he's invested and based on almost every film Sandler has put out over the past 11 years that might be a cause for concern. After watching the first preview for “Pixels, however, we're happy to report we're slightly enthusiastic.
Sure, the Donkey Kong sequences looks sort of lame, but Peter Dinklage and Josh Gad are also on board as the squad trying to stop these alien attackers (Brian Cox, Michelle Monaghan, Jane Krakowski and Ashley Benson round out the cast). Call us crazy, but Dinklage's mere presence gives us hope. We also love the scene at the end where Pac Man's creator learns his “son” bites back. Literally.
Check out the trailer embedded at the top of this post. Could this be Sandler's best flick in years? Or are we dreaming? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
“Pixels” opens nationwide on July 24, 2015.