Parents' Guide to Pixels

Movie PG-13 2015 105 minutes
Pixels Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

Yvonne Condes By Yvonne Condes , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 12+

Action, crass/raunchy humor in alien-attack sci-fi comedy.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 12+?

Any Positive Content?

  • 1:09
  • Pixels Trailer

Parent and Kid Reviews

See all
age 12+

Based on 48 parent reviews

 

 

See all 48 parent reviews
age 10+

Based on 95 kid reviews

Kids say this film is a mix of humor and action, appealing mainly to fans of Adam Sandler's style, with frequent swearing, suggestive jokes, and mild violence mainly presented in a cartoonish manner. While many reviews highlight its entertaining aspects and nostalgic references to video games, there's a consensus that it is more suitable for tweens and older due to its crude content and some complicated themes.

  • funny moments
  • nostalgic references
  • crude content
  • suitable for tweens
  • mixed reviews
Summarized with AI
 

 

See all 95 kid reviews

What's the Story?

In the 1980s, a time capsule full of images and footage of life on Earth is sent into space, where it's intercepted by aliens. They believe it's an act of war and appropriate the video game technology to attack Earth. It turns out that the only people who can stop them are a ragtag group of arcade gamers (Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Peter Dinklage, and Josh Gad) whose heyday was in the '80s. They work with the government to train the military to fight giant versions of classic video game characters -- including Pac-Man, Centipede, Donkey Kong, and Space Invaders.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 48 ):
Kids say ( 95 ):

PIXELS may appeal to fans of Sandler, James, and '80s video games: It has a novel premise, and the action sequences can be entertaining. Especially fun is the climax, when Pac-Man chomps down on the streets of New York City and the gamers battle their foes in Mini Coopers. But the characters that should be holding the movie together aren't terribly likable. They're called "nerds" over and over again -- but that's only true if the definition of "nerd" is a slightly pathetic man who, in the case of Ludlow (Josh Gad), has possible serial killer qualities.

Sandler looks like he's not even trying, while James is both mildly amusing and totally unbelievable as the president. There are some funny scenes when the aliens try to communicate using '80s video footage, and Dinklage -- as a foul mouthed, mullet-sporting former gamer -- is both terrible and compelling. Bottom line? Teens and older tweens may like the action and silly humor, and fortysomething parents could find a few chuckles at the pop culture references, but this isn't anything new (or particularly impressive) from Sandler and co.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Pixels' violence. Does it have less impact because the bad guys are giant video game characters? Does exposure to violent movies or video games make kids more aggressive?

  • Are any of the characters role models? Are they intended to be? How can you tell?

  • Sam can't move past losing a video game competition when he was a kid. What do you do when you have a setback?

  • Talk about how different video games were in the '80s. Kids: Did your parents play video games when they were younger? Did you know what an arcade was before seeing this movie?

Movie Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by

Pixels Poster Image

What to Watch Next

See all

Best Action Movies

See all

Excellent Adventure Movies for Family Fun

See all recommended movie lists

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate