This is a joint review between me and a friend, you can check out our blogs where they were originally posted (with pictures, and better presentation) here:
https://mindfullunatic.blogspot.comhttps://culturebum.blogspot.comMindful Lunatic: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, Edgar Wright’s third film, proves to me how successful Wright really is at writing comedies that work on numerous levels. He is able to blend Kung Fu style action, with comic esque video game effects, and is able to parody an entire culture while also being subtle about all of it. I had a lot of fun with this movie, and I've seen it twice already.
Culture Bum: He's got source material to work with, too, which is unusual for Wright. The movie's based on a series of graphic novels. It's a much different kind of movie from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. I had pretty low expectations going into this movie, figuring it was just another Michael Cera vehicle. The last Michael Cera movie I saw was Youth In Revolt, which wasn't good at all. However, I thought he did a good job in this movie, playing a pretty unsympathetic character.
ML: The trailer I saw wasn't that convincing either, the only reason I wanted to go see it was because Wright was the director, and I love Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. Cera does do a good job, because in a way it's similar to a lot of the characters he has played, except that instead of being awkward and nice, he's awkward and somewhat of a douche-bag. The whole time he complains about Ramona and how she was unfair to all of her exes and dumped them, when he doesn't realize that he basically acts the exact same way. They're more alike than they realize.
CB: As a character, Scott Pilgrim is so whiny; it's strange to have him as the protagonist. We're supposed to cheer on this selfish guy in all of these fights (the main plot is that Scott has to fight Ramona's 7 exes in battle) simply because the movie's about him.
ML: And I think it works in that sense, actually. Pilgrim is an aimless 22 year old who doesn't really seem to have any aspirations: he's just in a band- which he doesn't seem that interested in either. But the main point of the movie is him finding something that he'll actually work and fight for, and he does it for himself.
CB: The supporting characters in this are great as well. I found some of them more interesting than Scott Pilgrim himself. Kieran Culkin as Scott's roommate, Anna Kendrick as his sister, and Aubrey Plaza are all great with little screen time they've got. It reminded me of movies like Boogie Nights, where there's this whole world going on, and we're only seeing a slice of it. Background characters pop in and out of scenes, reminding us that this universe isn't just what we're seeing.
Another thing I want to talk about is the art direction- the style of this movie is it's strength. I've heard it described as the best integration of live action and animation since Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Watching this movie, it feels like you're in a comic book, or a video game, or even an episode of Seinfeld.
ML: It does have a lot of style, especially in the action sequences, which are probably some of the best I've seen in a while. While being shot masterfully, (thankfully there's no up close irritating shaky cam to be seen) they're also much better than other movies this year that were supposed to be big action flicks like The Expendables, or The A-Team. It's better simply because you can actually tell what's happening. At some points, it reminded me of old kung fu movies. There's a part where Pilgrim ends up having to fight a girl, and he doesn't want to hit her, so Ramona gets behind him and uses his arms and legs to fight her off for him. That part just screamed Jackie Chan to me, it was a lot like so many of his fights where it's entertaining to watch, and effective, but is also humorous.
CB: That was such a Jackie Chan scene. (I loved the "...her?..." in-joke about that fight scene too.) The writers did a good job mixing up the fight scenes, keeping them fresh. I know I was counting down the fights, trying to gauge how long the movie was, but I couldn't imagine how long it would have felt if all seven fights looked like an episode of Dragon Ball Z.
ML: If a sub-par, less talented director took this, he might have went a different direction and the action scenes may have become dull and boring, and repetitive, thankfully they don't ever feel that way. Another factor where I think this movie works is just the utter insanity of it. At one point, it nearly turns into a musical. Everyone actually stands around and knowingly watches Pilgrim fight, as if it's not even that big of a deal, and I loved that. Of course it also has the classic Edgar Wright quick cuts to speed things up, if you've seen his other movies you know what I mean. A legitimate complaint I have would be that not all of the humor was as consistent as his other two films, there were more misses than in Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz.
CB: Especially the first battle, with Ramona's first ex in the night club. The audience formed a circle around the fight. I couldn't tell if it was actually supposed to be happening, or if it was all in Scott's head. I did like Wright's fast cuts in SoTD and HF, and we saw some of that in SP vs. TW, but I also liked how it was almost shot like a comic book.
ML: The video subtle video game music was also great, most of it was from Zelda (Cera even has his own "Dark Link" style version of himself at the end) but there were a lot of other recognizable musical cues, some even that I couldn't quite place my finger on. That definitely is something that makes you want to watch it again, not to mention it's loaded with jokes and little bits of dialogue that you might not catch the first time (like Wrights other films as well).
CB: The background dialog is great, and I love that about Wright's movies. Particularly about the guy by the elevator at Gideon's club, who says things like, "I liked their first album better than...their first album."
ML: There was also something along the lines of "I liked the comic book better." which was also pretty funny. The exes also had their own personalities, and were all different. Like Chris Evans, who played an action star that was egotistical, and had all of his stunt doubles fight Pilgrim for him. I thought that was pretty clever.
CB: I felt the movie's biggest flaw was how it ended. Scott wanting to go back to Knives immediately (and temporarily), felt a little too Wizard of Oz, "all I've ever needed has been right under my nose!" And undercut what little emotional connection he had with Ramona in the first place. It was something his character would do, but it felt a little too forced, like Scott and Ramona couldn't just walk into the Twilight Zone door without one last moral hang-up. Knives was 17! Scott's relationship with her was predatory and manipulative, and he never showed any reason he wanted to be with her.
ML: You're right, there really wasn't a huge reason for that at the end. It did seem a bit forced that he started liking Knives again, for almost no reason at all. The only reason I could come up with was that he wanted to throw off the viewers, or because Pilgrim felt bad for her. Maybe Wright isn't to blame for that though, he is going by a graphic novel, from which I've heard that Knives is more of a throwaway character, though.
This is a fun movie. I'd recommend it to anyone, but unfortunately (at least where I live) it was already playing in the back of the theatre, in the smallest screening room. It's a shame that a movie this entertaining this opens up at #5 the first weekend, and #10 the second (while the critical failure 'Vampires Suck' opened at #2). It might be a combination of reasons, but it had decent advertisement, although not many knew the source material. It's worth a solid "B" in my book, I'm looking forward to everything that Edgar Wright does in the future.
CB: I'll match your "B," maybe even raise it into the "B+" category. This is a solid, fun movie, and anyone with even a passing knowledge of geek culture is going to enjoy it. If you've ever hummed along to the songs of Ocarina of Time, or kept your records in an old milk crate, you're going to appreciate the jokes poking fun at hipsters and geeks. If it's still in theaters around here, which should be about half an hour more around here, go see this movie. It's definitely one of the best ones to come out this summer.
Topic: [Movie] Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (Read 2591 times)