Pixels - D

Rated PG-13, 106 minutes

Yes, I know, the Adam Sandler action comedy "Pixels" came out earlier this summer, and I'm just now getting around to seeing it, and I wish I hadn't. On paper, it looks much better given the director, and while it has a few fun lines and decent special effects, it's still a regrettable embarrassment for all involved. As kids in the 1980s, Sam Brenner (Adam Sandler), Will Cooper (Kevin James), Ludlow Lamonsoff (Josh Gad), and Eddie "The Fire Blaster" Plant (Peter Dinklage) saved the world thousands of times - at 25 cents a game in the video arcades. Now, they have to do it for real when intergalactic aliens discover video feeds of classic arcade games and misinterpret them as a declaration of war, they attack the Earth, using the video games as the models for their assaults. Joining them is Lt. Col. Violet Van Patten (Michelle Monaghan), a specialist supplying the arcaders with unique weapons to fight the aliens. Directed by Chris Columbus of "Home Alone," "Harry Potter" and "Mrs. Doubtfire" fame and co-written by Tim Herlihy (writer of "Grown Ups 2" and other Sandler fare) and Timothy Dowling, "Pixels" is the typical dumb Sandler fare, taken to big-budget action heights this time. As a comedy, it's terribly unfunny and as an action film it's one of the sloppiest things I've seen in some time, wasting a talented cast including Emmy-winner Dinklage, who must've done this for the money, along with the lovely Monaghan and even acclaimed character actor Brian Cox as a blowhard general. What is most unfortunate is that on paper, the video game premise doesn't look half bad, but the problem happened when they decided to give it to Sandler and company, who dumbs this thing down so much it becomes near unwatchable, compounded by the casting of James as the President and the annoying presence of Gad. "Pixels" has some potential with its special effects, but overall this is an unsatisfying effort, and you'd have much more fun playing any of those classic games than sitting through this stupid, forgettable movie.