Pixels. 2015. 3/5

I had watched this with the kids when it was first released last year, and I get the feeling that they have watched it a couple of times since upstairs. We sat down to watch this last night as Helen had not seen it, and I guess I was up for some thoughtless viewing.

As it turns out, I enjoyed it more the second time than the first, I guess because I knew to expect that it was a ridiculous storyline, and that Adam Sandler was actually trying to act as though it was an Academy Award Nominated film and that he was the most intense leading man in the film. 

Apart from that, it is a fun romp back through those days that I lived as a teenager, and that Sandler obviously did as well. It was fun trying to explain to the kids that THESE were the video games we had grown up with, and that you generally had to go to video arcades to play them on stand up machines, not just turn on a 150cm TV and fire up the xBox. 

Peter Dinklage isamusingly over the top in his role as 'Fireblaster', while Josh Gad and Kevin James again felt under-utilised and poorly framed as characters. I mean, if you have to believe in a world where Kevin James has become President, then surely he wouldn't be such a weasly character?. Or perhaps I'm just wrong about what they may have to offer. as comedic actors.

(Actually, I think I am trying too hard to read stuff into a film where reality doesn't exist...)

Best Moment: The Pac-Man scene, driving cars aroud New York as ghosts chasing Pac-Man was entertaining and fun, and still ended up having to use the strategy we all used as kids to get those ghosts.

Not the Best Moment: Adam Sandler's attempt's to make his character seem more than it was. His performance (in places) was more wooden than ever.

Times Watched: 2.

Rating: If you are looking for mindless entertainment to pass 90 minutes, there are worse ways to do it than watching this.  3/5