Pixels
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: July 24, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
27
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
12
Negative:
23
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottJul 22, 2015
Pixels is a slice of pure, frivolous entertainment that doesn't try to overreach. Read full review
50
The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerJul 23, 2015
it’s not as original as it wants to be, despite having the able Chris Columbus in the director’s chair. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicRandy CordovaJul 23, 2015
The visual effects are impressive, and there is a certain kick to seeing the human characters dodging barrels in a life-size Donkey Kong. But we don’t really care about the humans; here, at least, Q*bert is more endearing than Adam Sandler. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJul 23, 2015
With a novel idea at its center and some good jokes scattered throughout, Pixels is a relief from the self-serious action films that invade movie theaters at this time of year. For most of the way, it’s good enough to enjoy, and for the rest of the way, it’s good enough to root for. But ultimately, it’s not quite good enough ... to be good enough. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJul 22, 2015
Pixels has a few inspired action sequences and a handful of laugh-out-loud moments, but overall the special effects are surprisingly average — and the lazy acting by Adam Sandler, the shameless mugging by Kevin James and the hammy performance by Brian Cox don’t help. Not even Peter Dinklage in a mullet can save the day. Read full review
50
Screen DailyJohn HazeltonJul 22, 2015
Sporting a flowing mullet and aviator shades, Dinklage perks things up considerably as the story’s comically arrogant bad-boy-turned-good-guy. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerJul 22, 2015
Even on its own silly terms, Pixels is not a very good movie; it’s painted up like a Ghostbusters-style fantasy-comedy but plays like so many slapdash Happy Madison productions before it. Read full review
40
The GuardianNigel M SmithSep 11, 2015
Pixels is a casually sexist, awkwardly structured, bro-centric comedy, starring some of Sandler’s buddies. The only difference this time is that state-of-the-art CGI has been added to the mix. Read full review
40
The TelegraphRobbie CollinAug 13, 2015
If Sandler can’t find it in himself to be verbally or physically entertaining on set, you start to wonder why he’s there in the first place, although his hollow stare in a number of scenes suggests he may be pondering the same thing. Read full review
40
CineVueChristine JunAug 13, 2015
On this evidence, maybe the eighties weren't so great after all. Read full review
40
Time OutJoshua RothkopfJul 22, 2015
The truly mystifying thing about the movie is how desperately it caters to Gen-X junk nostalgia without bothering to think that maybe those Reagan-era kids have grown up a bit. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyJul 22, 2015
At isolated moments a tolerably amusing send-up of alien invasion disaster movies in which the attackers are video arcade-era renegades arrived to gobble up as many famous landmarks as possible, this one-note comedy runs out of gas within an hour (it is based on a short film) and should have been trimmed to a neat 90 minutes. Read full review
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