I don’t know, there’s something great about apocalypse movies. Maybe it’s the stripping down of society, the chaos, or maybe just the destruction but I love apocalypse movies. Even more I love movies that show the end of the world with as much creativity as possible. Take “Pixels” a short film that works as a fan service for gamers and for people who will at first scoff at the notion of 8 bit characters taking over the world and suddenly gaze in surprise at the creepy notion of it all. Patrick Jean’s film is much more of an ode to the classic gamer and a visual experiment than a movie with a narrative.
The basic outline of the concept is that a mysterious person throws out a defunct television beside a bridge in New York City. Out of it emerges pixilated wonders from the Atari age from Bomber Man, to Pong, to Pac Man, to Donkey Kong, all of whom emerge and materialize in third dimensions destroying the New York City landscape with pixel explosions. The pong smashes buildings, Tetris bricks form lines and cave in skyscrapers, and Pac Man begins eating dots on the local subway computer destroying all of the tunnels. Before anyone can stop them, the world has become a blocky war zone incapable of recovering and being upgraded.
Filmed with dynamic special effects by One More Productions along with great direction from Jean, “Pixels” is a visionary little fan film that’s both rather innovative and kind of spooky once you see how the world transforms in to one solid block shrouded in darkness. With this, Jean creates a new menace out of beloved characters and tinkers with dimensions and depth perception with what is pretty much a stellar special effects bonanza. Whether or not you were around during the age of Atari, this short will bring back some golden memories while making you watch your back for man eating Pac Man readying to turn your corpse in to a pixilated mess. Patrick Jean has outdone himself.