Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

[Ziig]

With all the gamers in the Lounge, surprised no one has mentioned this movie yet. Anyone else seen it yet? I really enjoyed it, and cannot recommend it enough to anyone looking for a fun time at the movies. I did not read any of the comics, but from the production blogs I got the impression they tried very hard to be as faithful as possible.

[Bob the Beholder]

I enjoyed it. But from first appearances it has sort of a douchey hipster stigma, and takes a bit of a longer look to reveal that it's basically wall to wall video game references.

[kandrathe]

Anyone else seen it yet?

I'm interested. But, haven't seen it yet. I need more nerd friends in real life.

[VinnieJones]

I looked at the trailers and wasn't really that interested. But then I saw that he is playing a Rickenbacker 4003 in the poster and now I want to see it.

[Taem]

I'm guilty of finding the trailer interesting, but not wanting to stand in line amongst a large group of teenage kids and be the only adult there. Although that really shouldn't bother me, I mean, I could really give a damn about what a group of teenage kids think (about me), yet for whatever reason, I feel uncomfortable when thinking about the situation. I can't put my finger on it; it's got to be the cast - they all look like little kids to me! My 13-year old can't wait to see it! This movie will probably end up having to be a guilty-pleasure rental.

[kandrathe]

I'm guilty of finding the trailer interesting, but not wanting to stand in line amongst a large group of teenage kids and be the only adult there. Although that really shouldn't bother me, I mean, I could really give a damn about what a group of teenage kids think (about me), yet for whatever reason, I feel uncomfortable when thinking about the situation. I can't put my finger on it; it's got to be the cast - they all look like little kids to me! My 13-year old can't wait to see it! This movie will probably end up having to be a guilty-pleasure rental.

Ah, well. Wait till the kids are in school and slip off someday for the matinee!

[Hammerskjold]

but from the production blogs I got the impression they tried very hard to be as faithful as possible.

/cast level 1 thread necromancy spell...
/spell successful!!!1

The first half of the movie was good, it's the last 30 minutes or so where it starts to suffer due to time constraints, IMO at least.

There's only so much you can pack in an average movie duration, the books covers about a year timespan in the life of the characters. The movie seems to cover about a week or so at most.

Some of the jokes that exist only in the movie version was good to great. The Todd Ingram fight scene was enjoyable. The scene near the beginning showing Scott's and Wallace hole in the ground apartment was amazingly done.

The music is great, from the Universal's opening logo to the awesome rendition of the Legend of Zelda Fairy music. I don't know if that's made specially for the movie or from a version of Zelda I haven't played, but I'd love to hear the Scott Pilgrim's version of that theme in a next gen Zelda game.

Having said all that, the movie did leave out a lot of the character developments IMO. In the books, despite the series title (Scott Pilgrim) the first character you see after the cover pages is literally, Ramona. From book 1-5, except 6 which is the last one (for a very good reason without spoiling too much).

Speaking from my own bias again, I highly recommend the graphic novels. Ignore some of the hype and blather from people who never even read them. (eg: comics are for kids, I'm over the age of 20 I can't understand these hipster youngins who are ruining the world, NERRDSS!!!1)

What Scott Pilgrim is actually about is a coming of age story. (Anyone who says they're too 'mature' for those kinds of things yet still watches 'StarWars', can safely be ignored. )

In the back of the book there's a description for the series as being an Action, Comedy, and Romance. I'd say that's accurate but what makes it special in my opinion is that it combines the 3 succesfully. There's no requirement that you need to be a 16-25 year old hipster gamer nerd to read it.

[kandrathe]

but from the production blogs I got the impression they tried very hard to be as faithful as possible.

/cast level 1 thread necromancy spell...
/spell successful!!!1

The first half of the movie was good, it's the last 30 minutes or so where it starts to suffer due to time constraints, IMO at least.

There's only so much you can pack in an average movie duration, the books covers about a year timespan in the life of the characters. The movie seems to cover about a week or so at most.

Some of the jokes that exist only in the movie version was good to great. The Todd Ingram fight scene was enjoyable. The scene near the beginning showing Scott's and Wallace hole in the ground apartment was amazingly done.

The music is great, from the Universal's opening logo to the awesome rendition of the Legend of Zelda Fairy music. I don't know if that's made specially for the movie or from a version of Zelda I haven't played, but I'd love to hear the Scott Pilgrim's version of that theme in a next gen Zelda game.

Having said all that, the movie did leave out a lot of the character developments IMO. In the books, despite the series title (Scott Pilgrim) the first character you see after the cover pages is literally, Ramona. From book 1-5, except 6 which is the last one (for a very good reason without spoiling too much).

Speaking from my own bias again, I highly recommend the graphic novels. Ignore some of the hype and blather from people who never even read them. (eg: comics are for kids, I'm over the age of 20 I can't understand these hipster youngins who are ruining the world, NERRDSS!!!1)

What Scott Pilgrim is actually about is a coming of age story. (Anyone who says they're too 'mature' for those kinds of things yet still watches 'StarWars', can safely be ignored. )

In the back of the book there's a description for the series as being an Action, Comedy, and Romance. I'd say that's accurate but what makes it special in my opinion is that it combines the 3 succesfully. There's no requirement that you need to be a 16-25 year old hipster gamer nerd to read it.

I haven't read the novels, but I enjoyed the movie mostly for the brilliant writing. It was fairly well acted, and yeah the last 30 minutes seemed rushed to fit in fights with the remaining ex-boyfriends.

[Kevin]

I've watched it and enjoyed it. I'd never even heard of the graphic novel and honestly had no idea what it was going in. I enjoyed the style of the movie. The story was so-so. The fights were fun. The music was fun. The atmosphere that was created by it all was cool. The way, what I call comic book elements, were brought into the medium of the movie was done very well and worth the watch on their own. The acting was solid, I actually had the most issue with Ramona. I think she was supposed to feel flat and withdrawn a lot, but she came off wooden in several scenes and I had no sense that she was supposed to be. But overall she was still good, I'm being a little nit picky with the criticism.

My critique of the story being so-so, is that while it was a coming of age story, I can't really claim that I felt they really finished that journey. I understand that it was just the first step, and some of it might have been because the end was a bit rushed, but I don't believe Scott fully got it, and Ramona was still running and I saw nothing that showed she was going to change. Too me the story was about both of them coming of age, not just Scott. I saw Scott learning some, but it still felt like he missed the big picture and only learned a bit about self respect and love.

All that being said, I've seen it more than once, and I do enjoy watching it, but I'm not watching it for the story and not every movie has to be about the story. This story was strong enough, and the rest of the film was done in such an enjoyable way that overall it's a good movie.

So yeah I can agree with the Star Wars comparison, though this movie is not Star Wars. While the core story of Stars Wars (and when I say I'm mostly referring to "A New Hope") is only so-so, the framework it's put in, and the execution of that framework is excellent. That's part of my problem with the newer Star Wars films (and that includes Jedi). Some of that framework was not done as well (Ewoks, Jar-Jar, Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen being replaceable by blocks of wood and not losing anything, R2-D2 flying, etc) so the fact that the core story was weak in points and had holes in others could be a bit more of a bother. The framework of Pilgrim wasn't quite as good as what Star Wars was and the story was even weaker. But again I still liked it.

[Hammerskjold]

I've watched it and enjoyed it. I'd never even heard of the graphic novel and honestly had no idea what it was going in. I enjoyed the style of the movie. The story was so-so.

I think a lot of that has to do with the time issue. A lot of the story elements in the books were cut and re-mixed to fit the length of a movie. Increasingly so towards the end.

The acting was solid, I actually had the most issue with Ramona. I think she was supposed to feel flat and withdrawn a lot, but she came off wooden in several scenes and I had no sense that she was supposed to be. But overall she was still good, I'm being a little nit picky with the criticism.

I think again, it's that pesky time issue. While the actors didn't do too bad of a job, because of the shorter timeframe of the movie many of the characters can come off as one note.

and some of it might have been because the end was a bit rushed, but I don't believe Scott fully got it, and Ramona was still running and I saw nothing that showed she was going to change. Too me the story was about both of them coming of age, not just Scott. I saw Scott learning some, but it still felt like he missed the big picture and only learned a bit about self respect and love.

It's the rushed thing again. Those things you mentioned are fully explored in the graphic novels IMO. Also, Nega-Scott. Nega Scott in the books was not played for laughs at all, and about as humourous as that scene when Luke confronted the image of Vader in Dagobah. Which isn't supposed to be funny. At all.

The framework of Pilgrim wasn't quite as good as what Star Wars was and the story was even weaker. But again I still liked it.

It's not entirely bad, and yes there are definitely enjoyable parts in it for sure. I agree with you the movie version framework is unfortunately not that good, and gets increasingly rickety as it gets closer to the end. Though to repeat my broken record recommendation, book version is IMO better. (And I'm saying this as a fan of Edgar Wright the director, and the author\artist B.L. O'malley.)

Again without spoiling it too much, the things that was hinted\left out\chopped and re-mixed due to time constraints is more fully explored and examined in the graphic novel. So if you enjoy the movie, it might be worth checking out if your local library has the books. (Book 6, the last volume of the series is worth it for the comedy scene alone. That and the end boss fight. Movie version of Gideon vs Scott, is IMO a pale imitation of what happened in the book.)

Now, where did I put that brain bleach so I can scrub out the memory ingram of R2D2 rocket boots and Lil Ani Vader yelling Lazer Swords!111!

Ok, enough bad Starwars reference.

Here's Kim Pine in a mini comic.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/radiomaru/837201298/