10 Movies That Tried To Exploit Nostalgia (And Failed)

Pixels could have been a great movie, had it not wasted such an interesting concept on a standard Adam Sandler vehicle. The story's unique hook could have capitalized on the rising trend of 1980s nostalgia infiltrating modern pop culture, especially with Chris Columbus directing. After all, he did have a hand in Gremlins, The Goonies, Adventures in Babysitting and Home Alone.

What we did get was Kevin James as the President of the United States and a non-stop barrage of references that substituted decent humor for a scattershot 'hey, remember this?' approach that only solidified the video game movie curse. For what is supposed to be a family film, Pixels doesn't do enough to appeal to a wider demographic and most of the in-jokes will only appeal to those who were there at the time these games were at the peak of their popularity.

Pac-Man, Galaga, Frogger, Duck Hunt, Donkey Kong, Tetris, Max Headroom, Ronald Reagan, Madonna; the list goes on and on, but the movie doesn't really do anything with all of this iconography besides the one-note 'the military can't save the world but these nerds can' running gag.

Based on the premise and potential, Pixels could have been 'Ghostbusters with video games'. Instead, it's implied that Peter Dinklage (with a mullet) has sex with Serena Williams and Martha Stewart. In the White House.