The first trailer for Pixels proves why humans should never send time capsules into space: Aliens might misinterpret our fun video games as declarations of war, then send those pixelated characters back to Earth to blow up our planet.
And the only people who will be able to fight this unusual threat will be Adam Sandler, Josh Gad, and a mullet-sporting Peter Dinklage.
It’s a great idea for a movie (and a book—Ernest Cline’s Armada adopts a similar plot), and the first trailer is very promising. While it doesn’t get quite as literal as Battleship, audiences will be glad to see that they take the notion of pixels pretty far—with the aliens destroying landmarks and limbs alike in pixelated glory.
The trailer also hints at the very human ways the puny but resourceful Earthlings face their video game enemies, like the color-coordinated Mini-Coopers standing in as Pac-Man’s ghost nemeses. Also, a special intervention from Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani:
Pixels invades theaters July 24.