Pixels

 is a science fantasy action comedy film released in 2015 and coproduced by and. Based on, the film stars as Sam Brenner, a down-on-his-luck former arcade champion and home theater installer who through a series of events is hired by the US military to train a group of old-school arcade players in fighting an alien race attacking Earth with technology inspired by 1980s arcade games, including Donkey Kong and Pac-Man.

The film was critically panned, with reviewers criticizing the performances, humor, excessive product placement, execution, and dialogue, although the soundtrack, originality, and visuals were praised by some. The film was also a box office disappointment, grossing US$245 million on a budget of between US$88 million and US$129 million.

Mario-related elements in Pixels


The film begins with Sam Brenner playing the original Donkey Kong game and being beaten by Eddie Plant, who uses a cheat code (despite the fact that the actual game does not feature cheat codes and doing so would be counter-productive for an arcade game). Donkey Kong haunts Brenner as "the one game he sucks at".

Later in the film, an alien that has taken a form based on Mario's sprite from Donkey Kong can be seen running and jumping across a street, although none of the main characters are seen interacting with him.

The film's climax has the cast face the leader of the aliens, who has taken a form based on Donkey Kong and is on a re-creation of 25m. As Donkey Kong attacks the group, Brenner has a breakdown when he cannot figure out Donkey Kong's pattern and his insecurity over not being able to win the game gets to him. Matty (the son of the film's female lead, Violet van Patten) then reveals that Eddie cheated, giving Brenner the confidence he needs to get to the top and defeat Donkey Kong using a hammer.

Production
The original script of the film did not feature Donkey Kong, but he was included after meeting with Nintendo and convincing the company Donkey Kong would be "treated with respect".

Trivia

 * Eddie Plant is a caricature of many well-known gamers, including, the controversial and then-current world record-holder for the arcade version of Donkey Kong.