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Parents' Guide to

Pixels

By Yvonne Condes, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 12+

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

Movie PG-13 2015 105 minutes
Pixels Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 12+

Based on 49 parent reviews

Drutes
Drutes Adult
August 12, 2021
age 18+

Not as expected.

I saw the trailers and a couple of short reviews of this movie prior to letting my 7 & 5 yos watch it. The trailer showed all the cool actions with their fav old school games. Sadly within the first 10 mins already ruined by sexist depiction of female teens, a single mother and women in general. Had to switch this off by the time a young boy is telling Adam Sandler (a stranger contractor coming to their house to fit some electronics) everything about how he got the whole tv & gaming set because his parents are getting a divorce, for his dad cheats on his mum with a 19yo Pilates instructor, Sandler's character drooling over the boy's hot mum and then finding her drunk crying in the closet over her failed marriage a few minutes later. I mean, there has got to be a way to make a cool game infused movie with good scripts, right? What is this? Don't even get me started with the swearing! Teens shouldn't even be watching this without guidance, this is a grownup movie.

This title has:

Too much swearing
Too much consumerism
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
6 people found this helpful.
Madison C.
Madison C. Parent of 15-year-old
April 15, 2023
age 14+

TV-14.

For 14 and up like High School and up.

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much consumerism
1 person found this helpful.
See all 49 parent 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 (49 ):
Kids say (93 ):

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 suggesting a diversity update.

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