Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Even better review:

Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World is Fanservice: The Movie.

hehe

For a movie with so many negative tropes (Stalking is Love, Women Are Trophies, etc.)...

edited 15th Aug '10 4:13:59 PM by JAF1970

And so my point is proven yet again.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World is Fanservice: The Movie.

Also: Women Are Trophies is not an actual trope. And I have no idea where it would even fit in the movie (Scott doesn't want Ramona because she's a trophy - it's more accurate to say that Gideon does).

edited 15th Aug '10 4:59:12 PM by alliterator

Saw the movie yesterday, and as such, probably should have said something earlier. But anyway...

Anyhow, I was a bit disappointed that they cut down on the characterization of Envy, and the backstory with her and Todd, as well as the only two meaningful things Lynette does, and the Ramona v. Envy fight, as well as the triumphant return of THE BOYS!...and Crash. I also kinda disliked how they changed the Roxy fight, but to their credit, they did move some parts of the R v. E fight to the R+S v. R fight.

But enough complaining from me. Considering that they had to squeeze 6 volumes of comic graphic novel which, I think, were 100+ pages each into about two hours, they did a very good job! It was kinda like a comic plus a video game put into a movie. I think the music was pretty sweet. Those demon hipster chicks were creepy, I must say, but that song made me double over in laughter. The evil exes were very hammy, even the ones who didn't talk! Well, okay, not Gideon so much, but that's to be expected. Also, the captions used throughout the film were pretty amusing. As for the characters, Scott was geeky, Ramona was deliciously snarky, Kim...uh, didn't do very much, sadly, Knives was delightfully crazy and woobieriffic near the end, and Gideon was an utter bastard. I also loved the scene near the end when Scott and Knives work in tandem as a callback to the Ninja Ninja Revolution game to defeat Gideon. Although, that left me feeling very sad for poor Knives at the end. ;_; Another thing I liked was one of the things they changed, when moving the scenes from the comic with Envy around. Somehow, I find it a lot more funny when Ramona knees Gideon in the crotch than when Envy did the same to Todd. Also, I want Scott's Hat. And did anyone think The Princess Bride when Scott offered Todd the cup of coffee with soymilk? I absolutely loved the fight with the twins, and the epic special effects used there. Also, Wallace, ILU so bad.

All in all, I enjoyed it, and I'd totally go see it again if I got the chance.

edited 15th Aug '10 6:03:00 PM by ZetsUboa

Well, I can see the argument for Ramona being Sue-ish in the movie. The movie really ripped out a lot of what made her likable, and the symbolism behind the Evil Exes (having to overcome your significant other's past experiences and baggage) and Gideon (the latest ex casting a shadow over the new relationship) didn't come through as clearly.

And Scott lost some of his character arc since he didn't get a job in the movie.

Frankly, I think the bombing of the movie is simply because, right from the trailers, it looks unbelievably cheesy. And while the movie embraces that and runs with it, I believe that most people don't like intentionally campy movies.

In all honesty, the character I loved the most was Kim Pine. Maybe that's because she's played by Alison Pill or maybe- "If your life had a face, Scott Pilgrim, I would punch it."

Incidentally, I read the first volume of the comic. I think I am going to see the movie again once I have finished all the volumes.

No, it was awesome. I found myself getting gosebumps several times during the movie, especially during the fight against the twins. I've not been lucky enough to catch the comics, but I've now decided to change that as soon as I can.

I loved Scott's relationship with Wallace and, well, loved Wallace himself.

My only complaint is that I wish the females fought a little more. Though, Knives and Ramona did manage to help in the end, especially Knives . Ramona did seem a little flat, yet she was still interesting. She's wonderfully snarky and dyes her hair constantly, that is reason enough to love her.

I want more of this!

Kim, despite whatever time she lost, was still oozing cool.Everytime she spoke, I felt all warm and fuzzy inside.(And you tell me she's even cooler in the comic?! How did I miss this series?!)

I'll stop freaking now...

edited 15th Aug '10 5:22:47 PM by hybridelement

I haven't seen the movie yet, but I don't get the complaints that Ramona is too unparticipative and there's no reason given for why Scott falls in love with her, because there wasn't much reason in the comic either.

That was sort of the point, to me. In the comic, Ramona was so aloof and mysterious, and had almost nothing in common with Scott, so that it was baffling that Scott would fight for her, and yet he did. From afar, she's not worth fighting for. The mere fact that Scott could care so much about anything made the romance work even though we have no idea why or even if she loves him back. She's not a undeveloped character. She's just unemotional.

If she was presented as "the perfect girl" who was a match for Scott in every way and clearly reciprocated his feelings, it would feel contrived. Instead, she's the exact opposite; rather than existing purely to fulfill his desires, she has huge problems, and the plot revolves around her problems instead of his. It might not have come across as well in the film, but it's hard to portray the emotional wreck that Ramona is on the inside in a movie without beating the audience over the head with it.

edited 15th Aug '10 7:08:55 PM by Treblain

This film is meant to be a reference to the video game generation. Of course Ramona and Scott's relationship is going to seem shallow. Why does Mario constantly go after Princess Peach?

I saw it.

...It was good.

Not much else to say, except I totally want to read the comics now.

Also I liked the song that Scott wrote for Ramona. No, it didn't really have any lyrics, but it was a cool song.

Based on what I've heard it looks like this is aimed at my "demographic," but watching the trailer, it looks incredibly lame.

Loah, for Sparkysharps has an opinion which nobody probably cares about (but, hey, that's what the internet is for).

Personally, I found it throughly enjoyable, but I do recognize that the movie is problematic in a number of ways (some being problems with the source material and some being problems exclusive to or exaggerated in the movie) and that some people will hate this movie's guts for entirely valid reasons. (With that being said, somebody tell JAF 1970 to shut up. We get it: You hate the movie and like constantly parroting other people's reasons for why either for vindication or because you can't explain why you hate the movie in your own words. Now give us something new to work with).

There's some ways the movie was better than the comics (I personally think it handled Knives's Yandere-phase a lot better than the books. She wasn't nearly as vilified for being the previous ex and her getting over him didn't seem as much of a 180 as it did in the books. Also, Nega-Scott resolution = WIN), in many ways it wasn't (the "Scott realizes he's kind of a crappy boyfriend and learns to get over himself" thing is hammered in better in the book, Ramona came off almost as a Shallow Love Interest/Placeholder for the conflict when she wasn't just being kind of an asshole even more than she did in the comic, and the less said about Roxanne, the better. Also, I am sad that Stephen didn't end up with Joseph like in the comics, because I always found the fact that he ended up with what is essentially the male version of his asshole girlfriend to make perfect bizarro sense. That's probably just me, though). Of course, I was mostly there for Wallace, Kim, the dialog and the wacky video-game idiosyncrasies, so I was willing to tolerate and/or forgive the flaws. Other people might not.

Anyways, two cents have been spent.

edited 18th Aug '10 1:55:50 PM by Sparkysharps

I feel like a large number of the problems in the movie are because they just didn't have enough time to put all of it in. That being said, they did a terrific job at making it a wonderful movie even for people who have never read the books. I could see them making a movie that panders to Scott Pilgrim fans and them alone, leaving others in the dust.

On another note, my favorite scene in the movie was right at the end, where Scott and Knives double team Gideon. It was the most awesome of all the film's crowning moments.

@ JAF 1970

I saw this movie yesterday, and I loved it. Obviously it's not perfect, but if you ignore the fact it's a comic adaptation it is a very awesome movie. Unfortunately many characters' characterization was shafted and it bothered me a little they over-emphasized Stephen's neuroses when he was supposed to be slightly more relaxed, but I love what they did for Young Neil.

I disliked how much Kim and Ramona's characters were oversimplified and Envy's impact left a bit much to be desired. Obviously as the film went on they had to screw the characterization for many of the boyfriends due to time constraints and i can understand that. Making the first boyfriend totally go Bollywood in his fight was awesome. I still can't believe Lucas Lee is going to transform into C. America in like a year, but I think I accept that the guy is an actor now.

Michael Cera, oh Michael Cera, I've hated your for your wimpy blandness you do in every movie. I almost accused you of being another Shia Lebouf. Thank you for proving me wrong. I was total scared Cera was going to ruin Scott's characterization, good to know the kid can actually act.

I am glad about how Knives's yandere phase went in the movie, I felt in the book she was too vilified, too much bad-guy-ish.

I'm very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very glad my love for Wallace Wells (As a character, I'm straight!) translated into the big screen excellently. He was still my favorite throughout the movie.

For a gecko ending, this was pretty good. I understand that the film was in production when only like 3 volumes were released and I take it as such, they had no choice but to change the ending, kinda like what the did with the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime. I need to re-read the series, only now with volume six released.

Overall, it had it's problems but still very very fun.

As i said. A thing of beauty in its own right. But its source material is a masterpiece.

Saw this yesterday and I loved almost every second of it. I hadn't read the comics and now I'm going to go out and get those.

Only a few things bothered me, the beginning felt a little disjointed. But I think that was just the style they were going for. Until the 1st evil ex appeared it was good, but after that, it was great.

Also, completely out of left field, during the previews the one for Devil came up. I hadn't seen it before, but was watching it thinking, "good god this looks so bad and contrived." And then the point in the preview where it said "from the mind of M. Night Shamalyan" came up, and the entire theater groaned. It redeemed my faith in humanity.

^Just a clarification: M. Night isn't actually directing that movie, and I'm pretty sure someone else wrote the screenplay. He's just producing and his name got slapped all over advertising  ^*

"good god this looks so bad and contrived." And then the point in the preview where it said "from the mind of M. Night Shamalyan" came up, and the entire theater groaned. It redeemed my faith in humanity.

Wow, you too? It was hilarious. The collective groaning made me so very happy.

Haha, that happened in my theatre too. It was hilarious.

Didn't happen in my theatre. No reactions here.

Happened in mine. I was a little skeptical of it, but still would've been able to buy "great, I'm never gonna be able to get in an elevator again," and then Shyamalamadingdong's name and everyone groaned and started chuckling. The Last Airbender must've really killed him in the public consciousness.

Also, completely out of left field, during the previews the one for Devil came up. I hadn't seen it before, but was watching it thinking, "good god this looks so bad and contrived." And then the point in the preview where it said "from the mind of M. Night Shamalyan" came up, and the entire theater groaned. It redeemed my faith in humanity.

My theater actually laughed like crazy at his name.

Speaking of which: I was shocked that in the entire theater, nobody laughed at the Ninety Percent Of The Brain line.