critics are bashing this movie. currently, as i write this, it sits at a meagre 20% on rotten tomatoes. that didn't hold me back from seeing it though. i like some adam sandler stuff that has been received pretty poorly, that's my boy! for example. i also like chris columbus as a director (but more as a writer). i'll tell you though, this film here, is no good. it had the makings of a good film, a great concept but it is filled with things that don't work. you see this is a happy madison (hm) production and as such it feels like one. it starts with sandler as a kid, he and his 'friends' do something that will effect them all later and then we cut to them as grown ups. there is the requisite love story where sandler has to win someone's love. the whole film is filled with typical hm tropes that appear in all their movies and it's filled with the same style humour, the same actors and the same hm dialogue that is prevalent in all their films. one thing that elevates the film though is the addition of columbus as a director. instead of one of the hm regulars they got a better, more talented, real director to helm this project. he softens the hm production values and makes it feel more like a blockbuster film filled with action and fun. but there is only so much he can do to make the pretty awful script work. columbus's touch can be felt and he alone turns what could of been a real turkey into something that is bad but better than it should be. which is a shame because the concept of this film is great. aliens invade us via early 80's arcade games and only the best players in the world can defeat them. but instead of something original they just rip off ghostbusters. let's list the ways shall we: - sandler is venkeman only less funny and 'not' bill murray by a long shot - josh gad is egon, only not funny. gad was just annoying and dumb and stereotypical. i might be in the minority but i just don't find this guy very funny. - michele monaghan was sigourney weaver, right down to her child being kidnapped - the jumpsuits were pretty much ghostbusters outfits without proton packs - q-bert was slimer - pacman (and all the video game characters) were pretty much the marshmallow man that's how it was like ghostbusters and that's how it was unoriginal but it is also bad in other ways. another list? gee, this review is running long: - q-bert was not funny and was way to childish - josh gad, again, is not funny - the whole donkey kong scene was weak, and very unbelievable with characters suddenly becoming unstoppable gymnasts - the josh gad love story. it's resolution made me want to gag - the music wasn't that great. pretty generic - it wan't as funny or smart as it should of been - it had to many lulls in the action - it was predictable (i knew how it would end right from the opening credits) - did i mention how annoying a character josh gad was? - the secret government lab was really weak i could go on but i should bring this to an end. before i do though i thought i'd mention a few of the good things. it's got some sharp editing which makes it pass by, regardless of the lulls in action. it's got great effects and they use an array of characters from the 80's games which worked to great effect. paperboy anyone? peter dinklage was great )even though i didn't like his character so much). great cameos throughout. i thought kevin james as a bumbling but humble and smarter than he looks president worked fairly well and last but not least, and is as usual fantastic, is this guy. a man who needs no introduction. a man who always delivers in spades. a man who is the very definition of screen presence. and a man who in his maybe 10 minutes of screen time, maybe even five minutes, is a reason alone as to why this film works better than it should. that man is none other than brian cox. brian f'ing cox! production design: 8 out of 10 cinematography: 7 out of 10 re-playability: 3 out of 10 originality: 3 out of 10 costumes: 5 out of 10 directing: 6 out of 10 editing: 7 out of 10 acting: 7 out of 10 music: 6 out of 10 script: 3 out of 10 55/100