Common Sense Media Review
By Tom Cassidy
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Disney hologram movie is mean-spirited and judgmental.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Pixel Perfect
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In PIXEL PERFECT, teenager Roscoe (Raviv Ullman) invents a hologram, Loretta Modern (Spencer Redford) to front his friend Sam's (Leah Pipes) band. But as the band becomes more successful, Sam begins to feel increasingly left out.
Is It Any Good?
Disney's 2004 movie has some fun musical moments and captures the basement band to stardom path well, but these are undermined by its muddled messages. It bumbles towards being a satire of the early 2000s manufactured pop scene, but unlike Josie and the Pussycats from three years before, Pixel Perfect has no affection for its characters other than the near-sociopathic Roscoe. Pipes successfully wrings the best she can out of the badly written Sam, who has to step aside in her own band to make way for the high-kicking hologram Loretta Modern. So much of Roscoe's controlling behavior is brushed over, including a segment in which Sam finds out he screens her calls. It's hard to move along with the story when these issues need to be addressed.
Director Mark A.Z. Dippé comes from a visual effects background and Pixel Perfect was clearly a vehicle for him to showcase his skills. The holographic effects and extended cyberspace sequences are where the movie feels most alive. The film wraps up with the right messages, but all changes of heart come out of the blue, with no pay-off earned. Despite the cheery Avril Lavigne pop-punk tunes and attempt at a happy ending, the takeaway tone is a nasty niggling feeling of discomfort.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the idea of perfection presented in Pixel Perfect. Roscoe creates Loretta out of images in magazine advertisements -- are these realistic ideals to aspire to? Can any one thing be perfect? Discuss the idea of something or someone being perfect to one person but not another.
Discuss the character of Roscoe. Did you like him? How did he control people around him? How would you have responded to Roscoe if he had treated you the way he treated Sam?
Some characters think Loretta's feelings need to be considered while others see her as just an object. Do you think artificial intelligence needs to be treated kindly?
What do you think are the overall messages from the movie?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : January 16, 2004
- Cast : Raviv Ullman , Leah Pipes , Spencer Redford
- Director : Mark A.Z. Dippe
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Disney Channel Original Movies
- Genre : Family and Kids
- Topics : STEM , Arts ( Music and Sing-Along )
- Run time : 85 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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