Pixels (4½ Stars)

"Run! It's Pacman!"

Today is the second time I've watched this film. The first time I saw it, a little over six months ago, I had to laugh out loud at the film's humour. Today I already knew the jokes, so I was concentrating on the plot itself. I have to say that it's a really good story. The balance between the action and the romance is perfect. The poignancy of the childhood friends re-uniting is moving in itself. It's also good to see the human side of an American president. That's something barely touched in modern films.

How did "Pixels" manage to get only a 17% rating on Rotten Tomatoes? Once more it's proof that the oh so smart film critics don't know what they're talking about.

Naturally, the attack by Pacman is the film's outstanding highlight. Even though all the video games shown in the film rate as classics, Pacman is the most iconic of the 1980's video games. It's the game that everyone knows, even today.

Tragically Toru Iwatani, the creator of Pacman, never received the riches he deserved from Pacman's fame. "The truth of the matter is, there were no rewards per se for the success of Pac-Man. I was just an employee. There was no change in my salary, no bonus, no official citation of any kind". It's a thankless job being a video game developer.

I downloaded the Dojo Quest game for my smartphone after watching "Pixels". It's the only game I've ever played on my phone. Is it a good game? I don't know, I have nothing to compare it with. I just know that the film itself is excellent, whatever the Rotten Critics from Rotten Tomatoes say.