16 BITVILLE — It's been awhile since Adam Sandler made a movie that critics enjoyed. That doesn't seem too terribly important, however, when you realize that audiences seem to love his movies and pour into the theater to the tunes of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Sandler's latest flick, "Pixels," hits theaters this weekend and it seemed to have a few things going for it that some of his recent films were missing. The movie has a great cast that doesn't include Sandler's regular buddies. Instead we get some solid actors like Michelle Monaghan, Josh Gad and Peter Dinklage. "Pixels" also has a proven director behind it, Chris Columbus. If you don't recognize that name other than the man who sailed the ocean blue in 1492, you have seen his movies. Some of them include "Home Alone," "Mrs. Doubtfire" and the first two "Harry Potter" films.

With all of this and a fun premise going for it, I headed into the theater really wanting to like "Pixels." Unfortunately, my movie wish was not granted. A solid cast, a proven director and great visuals couldn't make up for an awkward, ill-paced and criminally unfunny movie.

Awkward

Don't misunderstand me here, I'm all about the awkward humor. When Michael Scott and "The Office" were at their pinnacle I couldn't get enough of the uncomfortable humor. If that's not enough proof, I was also a big fan of "The Last Man on Earth," which takes awkward humor to a whole new level.

Sony Pictures via AP

When I say "Pixels" is awkward I don't mean awkward humor, I mean it just feels awkward.

The pacing is all over the place and the chemistry between characters just isn't there. Don't even get me started on the scene with Kevin James and Jane Krakowski making a cake.

I just shuddered a little thinking about it.

Not funny

A lot of the awkward tension in the theater was the result of the comedy not being funny. So many jokes fell totally flat and left the audience wondering if the punch line had already come or if they were still waiting.

Sandler has made me laugh in the past and I even like Kevin James' TV show "King of Queens" and some of his movies, but neither was funny in this movie. They tried pretty hard to make scenarios funny, but it just didn't work.

Many in the audience laughed uncomfortably at times because they didn't know what else to do.

Waste of good actors

I think Peter Dinklage is a great actor and Josh Gad can be really funny. Both are terrible in this movie. I wouldn't say it's so much the fault of the actors, but rather the terrible material.

Dinkalge's character never hits the mark and Gad's is terribly obnoxious and unfunny.

I can't tell if you're seeing a pattern yet, but "Pixels" is not a funny movie.

Conclusion

At the end of the film I tried to convince myself that I actually kind of liked the quirky concept and nods to 80s culture, but I was lying to myself. After a couple of hours I realized that "Pixels" is a huge disappointment, not only because it's not funny, but because it had loads of potential that was wasted time and time again.

Some people will enjoy the film, but the majority will find it to be an unfunny mess. With that said, however, my guess is it will make a substantial amount of money at the box office and be considered a commercial success despite being one of the worst films of the summer.

That was a little harsh, but I have to give an honest review and that's what I've done. "Pixels" is not worth your time and certainly not worth your hard-earned cash.

John has been writing about movies, news, sports and pretty much anything awesome for more than five years. John is the co-host of the Flix Junkies podcast and will always entertain you with his stories.

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