Pixels

A group of former arcade champions, now grown men with faded glory and strained friendships, are called back into action when alien invaders reinterpret 1980s video games as a manual for attacking Earth. The military recruits these gamers for their specialized knowledge of classic titles, pitting their old-school skills against pixelated versions of Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and other arcade icons as the streets of New York are turned into a living arcade. The film follows their attempts to translate joystick tricks and pattern recognition into real-world tactics, balancing slapstick set pieces with fragments of personal life and rivalry, as they try to stop an escalating pixel threat without revealing any final surprises.

Directed by Chris Columbus, the movie builds on a short by Patrick Jean, with a screenplay developed by Tim Herlihy and contributions from Timothy Dowling, and it premiered theatrically in 2015 with a wide release.

It opened broadly and attracted a sizeable, international audience, translating its nostalgic premise into solid ticket sales worldwide, even as reaction from critics and viewers was uneven.

The film’s spectacle led to a handful of instantly recognizable set pieces, especially sequences featuring Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, which prompted conversation among gamers and casual viewers alike. Those scenes helped seed Halloween costumes, online clips and references in pop culture debates about 1980s nostalgia and Hollywood’s use of retro IP.

Critical response was mixed, reflected in audience polling around an average of 5.8 out of 10. Many viewers enjoyed the visual effects and novelty of seeing arcade antagonists brought to life, while others found the comedy and character development lacking. Underneath the action, the picture returns again and again to nostalgia, teamwork, aging heroes trying to reclaim relevance, and how playful pastimes can become surprisingly tactical under pressure.