I've been wanting to rewatch this movie for ages. I literally haven't seen it since it released in theaters ten years ago, when I was nine. I loving this movie as a kid, thinking it was a great, ionate tribute to classic arcade games. Now, as a young adult: I really, really....... still kind of like it!
I have no idea why this movie is as hated as it is. This movie has a really cool concept and, for the most part, just goes all out with. The actual video game characters themselves look amazing and blend into the real world surprisingly well, and all the references and jokes about the games don't feel out of touch or dated, they feel as if they come from a place of love rather than cynicism and that's refreshing to see from a Hollywood production, lol. The action scenes are awesome, easily the best part about the movie. The music choices are great and fit the sequences well, the energy is kept at a high level the whole way through, I love seeing Adam Sandler's character use actual strategy seen in the games to defeat the bosses, they're all just so much fun to watch, especially the Pac-Man one, I could watch that shit over and over again and still laugh my ass off while being impressed by the action. In general, the movie is pretty funny too. Sometimes the actors can get a bit carried away with their improv moments (particularly Josh Gad) and that's a touch annoying. But aside from that, the visual and verbal gags are alright. Nothing amazing, but not nearly as painfully unfunny as most other Adam Sandler flicks.
Now I'm gonna act as if this movie doesn't deserve any of the hate it gets because it does have a fair deal holding it back. There's a pointless, milktoast romance plot that adds nothing and doesn't even really make sense in the context of the movie. Your telling me that a women who just got divorced from her husband would start dating another man she just met a few days later? I doubt it. She's obviously only there just to put a female actor in the poster, or so Adam Sandler can kiss another women, lol. While I thought most of the characters were perfectly fine. Josh Gad really started to get on my nerves after a while, his entire shtick is that he's a whiney pervert who is head over heals for Lady Lisa: this idea could be hilarious if done well, but I don't think Josh Gad was given the proper direction here as the constant screaming is just irritating, and the stalkerish behaviour comes across as more creepy and sad rather than funny. Finally, I felt as if the pacing was a little wonky at times: We don't actually get to see any video game characters until about fourty five minutes in, excluding the two seconds we saw some pixels fly by at the beginning. Until we get to this moment, the movie is entertaining: but also feels like a waste of time as its not developing anything about the cool video game world and is instead more interested in giving time to the boring-ass romance plot. We never actually even hear the reason why the video game characters have beef with the real world until the final battle, and it's brushed over so quickly that I wondered what the point of it even was. This could of been improved by simply cutting some of the fat of the romance plot out and trade it in for scenes about the arcade characters, explore in greater detail why they want to invade earth and let us see more scenes of the humans playing off them. Not a deal breaker as when the arcade characters do show up the movie gets considerably better, but it is a missed opportunity.
Overall, I guess I can understand why most people aren't into this, but I really do give credit to what works in this movie. I feel a real sense of ion and effort here, as if the producers actually did their homework on classic video games and wanted to create a fun time that pays tribute to said classic games. I don't think it's anything great, but there's way too many good things in it to say it's bad. I honestly think this is an okay choice if you're looking for a comedy that has just enough creativity and decent jokes to hold your attention. I guess most people despise this movie, but for me: I think it's a good.... enough, time.
Score: 6/10
Comments (1)
I personally think this movie is hilarious.
It's very nostalgic as well.