'Scott Pilgrim vs The World' Movie Review

I don't write movie reviews.  I finished watching this movie and felt betrayed.   I can see how this movie probably looked great on paper.  Its a combination of genres.  Boy is in a struggling band.  Boy meets girl.  Boy meets his dream girl.  Boy is a slacker and doesn't want to break up with first girl.  Boy finally does and then realizes that his dream girl is haunted by seven evil ex's and he has to fight each of them to the death.... Cera has to come out on top or he'll die... or the girl will break up with him, or ... That's the basic plot of the movie.  Rom/Com meets video game action movie.  It could have been weird and cool, but it ended up being weird and ...meaningless... empty... pointless.

I have really enjoyed Michael Cera's work so far (with the exception of 'Year One' (or whatever that Jack Black movie was that he did... and I like Jack Black, but we have to admit, that movie was a bit klunky).  I like the quirky goofy shtick Cera does - it works.  Even in this movie - he has a lot of good moments. The movie didn't fail because of Cera's acting and I sincerely liked watching him move through the action sequences.

 Loads of big names signed on for it - even some bit parts were filled with experienced actors.  Keiran Culkin was great.  He was funny and a legitimate bright point in the movie.  Jonathan Shwartzman was good - I'm a big 'Bored to Death' fan, so it was cool to watch him doing something else - I really want to see him do well in movies - I have high expectations for him - this was not great - it was just good.  If the other actors were all 'no names' it would have been way worse, but the familiar faces dressed the film up quite a bit.

The special effects were super cool.  The constant use of 80s and 90s video game video and sound FX was fun, but still...

Where the movie falls apart is the fight scenes are not fueled by anything real.  Its impossible to feel that Cera is actually fighting for something worthwhile.  His love interest is not very interested in him and we don't know enough about her to make us feel that she is some kind of uncatchable catch.  She's got a look and a mysterious presence, but as soon as we get to know her a bit the mystery is clearly a bit of a let down... so what is Cera fighting for?  Its impossible to believe.  It needed way less fighting, more jokes and more character development.

...So, though the movie has some really good points and some really good actors, it is mostly filled with fight scenes that don't lead anywhere.  Effects and talent were all over this project, but it was kind of like dressing up a pig - she doesn't become a prom queen if you put 10,000 bows on her - she's still a pig and she still smells like ass.

and...

The film is set in Toronto - Toronto is not a nice place - don't be fooled.  Its dirty, ugly, boring and expensive.  People are mean.  There is no culture - its just a mishmash of people who are stuck together, who would rather not be anywhere near each other.  Is not a true representation of Canadian culture.  Avoid it at all costs.  Its definitely not a travel destination.... Yeah, so that thing I said earlier about dressing up a pig... it applies here too.

She just said that kick ass did poorly at the box-office, i belive she is mistaken it did made double the budget so i believe the studio management generally favors the film productions which make double the budget.

dude scott pilgrim was effing sweet

Great! I think i might go to see it then!

In my opinion beauty is in the eye's of the beholder. Kick-Ass isn't as true to the comic, but the comic was writen with the idea that itwould be turned into a film. I actually found Kick-Ass hard to read because it was so exscivlly gorey. Scott Pilgrim the comics are very video game inspired but that is what our generation knows. The first 30 minutes or so where basiclly panel for panel. I understand why things where rushed. Trying to fit 6 comics in one movie is hard without having to cut some things out and compress others

Do you have any clue wtf you are talking about Grace? Kick-Ass was far from staying true to the comic and half was through Scott Pilgrim the film completely diverges from the comic. 
Hit Girl's whole back story was wrong as well as the whole romantic sub plot in Kick-Ass. 
In Scott Pilgrim the whole movie is entirely different from the comics once it hits the Twins.
If Hollywood really wants a movie that stays true to the comic they need look no farther than The Watchmen.

Grace, was it hard reviewing the three movies. Did you do them all on the same day?

the movie is not out here jet but I think it will fail horribly nobody in Europe reads comics so a comic book fan hype will not get people to see this movie.
I hope they come with a different marketing scheme because the fan hype thing made kick ass look like a bad parody instead of a good action movie. I really hope this movie does good because I loved kick ass and it is one of my favorite action movies. And I will make the stand and go see it when it comes out. so fingers crossed.

just say it! Pretty good. A bit weird. But that made it better