Oh dear. Its sad to see Adam Sandler so desperately treading water, not that Im a fan. Perhaps Pixels sounded good on paper but, if it did, that certainly didnt carry forward to film. In amongst the terrible script and dreadful acting was more unfounded science than you can wave a joystick at. Lets start at the beginning. A space capsule gets launched in 1982 and by 2015 its been picked up by aliens from another planet. In truth, after 33 years, a capsule floating through space (travelling significantly less than light speed, remember) would get nowhere exciting at all. It takes an incredibly long time just to reach the end of our solar system. The New Horizons probe, for example, that has just arrived at Pluto was launched in 2006. In short, the Pixels capsule would not have reached any planet we dont already know about in 33 years. But okay, maybe the aliens have near-lightspeed travel and simply intercepted the capsule in the void of space one day. That works to an extent. What doesnt work, however, is the idea that we could develop weaponry that fires supercharged light particles. Those are just words. They mean nothing. A particle of light is a photon, which is simply a wave. A wave has no charge to begin with and certainly cant be charged, or indeed supercharged. However, the most unnatural thing by far in Pixels is almost too bizarre to write. It breaks just about every law of physics that there is. Goodness knows what the writers were thinking when they added in this abomination of a plot piece; Sean Bean doesnt die.
Peter Austin initially joined WhatCulture as an occasional contributor to our Film, Gaming and Science sections, but made the mistake of telling us that he'd been making videos in his bedroom for over a decade. Since then he's been a vital member of our YouTube team and routinely sets the standard for smart-casual wear in the office.
