Based on a short film of the same name, the new Adam Sandler movie PIXELS might seem like a one note gag to many, something perhaps best suited as just a short film and not a cinematic full length feature. But for folks like me, who at the very least lived through the 1980s arcade video game craze, there’s more than enough nostalgia on screen to make for a fun (if ultimately forgettable) moviegoing experience.

Opening in 1982, we meet young friends Sam Brenner and Will Cooper, two boys who love the video arcade and excel at their games of choice. Brenner is a master at just about every major arcade hit, including Pac-Man, Galaga and Donkey Kong. Cooper is more content going for the prizes in the mechanical crane game. Seeing how good his friend has become, Cooper convinces Brenner to enter a major video game competition. The young arcade wizard ends up falling second place to Eddie “The Fire Blaster” Plant, a sunglasses-wearing little person who is a rock star in this world. Cut to present day, Sam (Adam Sandler) is now a tech installer for household electronics, and Will (Kevin James) is… wait for it… the President of the United States. They’ve stayed friends, but where Will went on to big things, Sam seemed content to just barely get by. While making a house call, Sam meets Violet (Michelle Monaghan), a newly single mother who also seems unhappy with her life.

A U.S. military base is attacked by an alien force, and a soldier is abducted. The government receives a message from the aliens that reveals an old tape sent into space containing video of arcade games from the 80s was misinterpreted as an act of war, and now these otherworldly forces have started attacking earth using the appearances of these classic game characters. Will, being The President, enlists Sam’s help to work with the military on a strategy to defeat the attackers. Sam discovers Violet just so happens to work in The White House, and helps create technology to be used against the aliens. They also enlist the assistance of a childhood acquaintance named Ludlow (Josh Gad) who is now a conspiracy theory nut, and of course Eddie Plant (Peter Dinklage) who has been serving time in prison. It isn’t long before these one time video game nerds find themselves doing close up battle with the alien forces.

PIXELS is a weird experiment of a movie, in that it feels like it’s geared towards kids, but will likely be primarily appreciated by adults, specifically adults who know the 30-year-old culture being represented in the movie. It’s directed by Chris Columbus, who gave us the first two HARRY POTTER movies and HOME ALONE 1 and 2. He manages to find some fun and endearing character moments throughout the story, but you can tell he’s mixing his paintbrush with what is still an Adam Sandler movie. Oddly enough, Sandler plays a sort of straight man in this comedic affair, letting others get most of the funny lines and moments. Kevin James doesn’t even try to play his President as anything other than typical Kevin James, breaking into embarrassing dance moves at a formal event, or doing goofy and messy lovey-dovey talk with his first lady (played by Jane Krakowski) during a photo op moment in a bakery. He also has trouble with big words, and there’s some other subtle nods to the previous Commander in Chief. Josh Gad and Peter Dinklage seem to get most of the glory moments in the proceedings, playing the more broad characters in the story. Michelle Monaghan tries her best to make her role an endearing love interest for Sandler, but she almost seems above this sort of material.

While PIXELS feels like a complete narrative, there are also multiple moments of missed opportunities or dangling plot points that never seem resolved. I get the feeling this may at one point have been a much longer movie cut down for time or pacing. For example, a military character played by Brian Cox is continually referenced throughout the story, getting angrier and angrier at the involvement of the “nerds” in battle, but the film ends without any mention or resolution to his character… he’s just forgotten, and it feels weird. There are also inconsistencies in the game characters used, as the story starts in 1982, and we’re made to believe the tapes aliens saw came from that same time, but we’ll randomly see video game characters that didn’t come along until much later. Stuff like that is forgivable, but also likely to be noticed by those who remember the games and their release dates well. There are some weird writing liberties taken with elements such as the aliens awarding earth a trophy if the humans win a game, one of those being none other than Q-Bert, who becomes like a pet and buddy for Sandler’s crew – if you saw BEDTIME STORIES, this feels a lot like the goofy little big-eyed hamster that kept popping up in that film.

Certain things work really well, such as Henry Jackman’s exciting musical score which almost feels like an intentional throwback to genre movies of the 1980s. Other things never quite click, like Sandler’s on screen attempts to bond with Violet’s son, who is more into modern video games in which you just mash buttons to survive. There’s a running theme of how old school video games were about following patterns and learning how to beat them, and modern games are just mindless carnage. There’s also a weird effect in the incorporation of the video game characters with the real world. Because they’re video game avatars, none of what you’re seeing ever looks real or tangible, giving the production an ironically cheap feel. These days you could probably incorporate video game graphics like these over live action video using your home computer and some editing software. I’m sure a lot of work went into the effects, and I don’t mean to cheapen the labor and time spent on the production, but it just never feels as expensive or impressive as the $110 million budget would lead you to believe it should be. The most impressive scene is the first official battle which is the humans versus a real life version of the game Centipede. The battle takes place at night, where the glowing pixels of the enemy really work well, and there’s almost a feeling akin to something like GHOSTBUSTERS in this segment… but it never quite excels past that point. A street chase in New York City with a giant Pac-Man comes close to greatness, but again doesn’t seem to reach its full potential.

After JACK AND JILL, THAT’S MY BOY and BLENDED, Adam Sandler kind of needs a hit to remind audiences why he’s become such a household name. PIXELS isn’t his best film by any means, but it is a step back in the right direction. The biggest problem remains that it doesn’t seem to know who its audience really is. Had this been a hard “R” done as a raunchy comedy for adults who grew up in arcades, it might have made more sense. I’m not sure kids will get many of the jokes, or really appreciate the nostalgia aspects of it. The film is, like many in its same category, a disposable comedy with a genre twist. That said, it is still quite a bit of fun to watch.

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