Scott Pilgrim Versus the World Movie

[Arigomi]

Sigh...

Once again I am of a different opinion from the consensus and to a certain extent, even the naysayers. I wonder if I am too picky for my own good.

I read all of the comics. I didn't love them or hate them. The comics were interesting but they didn't spark any enthusiasm from me. The characterization was too low-key in the both the dialogue and body language for me to fully grasp their personalities. One notable exception is Envy Adams. She enters the story with a palpable voice and strong motivations.In hindsight, I might have understood the characters better if had encountered someone like them in real life. In terms of plot, there are noticeable signs in the early comics that Bryan Lee O'Malley was improvising upon the narrative as he went along. This was a problem for me because I could sense when O'Malley's was lost in his own creation when the plot began to wander dangerously close to dead ends. Still, the comics did keep my interest enough to finish and reflect upon them.

I watched the movie. The movie left me feeling very conflicted. The film benefited a lot from having Edgar Wright as the director. A lot of my concerns with the comics were cleared up with movie. For the first time, the characters felt dynamic and unique among the group. Unfortunately, Ramona still seemed like a caricature to me. In my eyes, she was still just a personification of male infatuation. On a good note, the screenplay condensed the source material into a coherent and tightly structured plot. It also injected bits of dialogue that filled in gaps that O'Malley never got around to addressing. In a strange turn of events, the movie actually highlighted frustrations I have with the titular character that I didn't notice while reading the comics. Painted as the underdog, I never felt like Scott did any hard work to achieve his goals. He did have setbacks, but they often felt hollow to me. At the same time, I was still entertained by the action, jokes, and stylistic touches made by the director.

In the end, the one thing that prevents me from fully enjoying the comics and movie is the shaky romance. Everything hinges upon it but for some reason there are fans who have downplayed this aspect. Believing in the romance requires a lot of faith because O'Malley gives us very little to work with. As a result, the movie is unable to delve much deeper.

[takenoko]

I don't really disagree with any of that, but I still liked the movie despite it. Maybe it's convincing as true love or fated love, but I can go with Ramona is trying new things, like mostly-nice guys, and Scott's obsession with Ramona is kind of inexplicable, but a lot of feelings can be that way sometimes. I don't really understand the "knowing people like them in real life" comment since everyone in the movie is a caricature to the extreme. Isn't that the point?

Ultimately, it's fine for people to say it's not as good as the book, it's not a good adaption, or whatever as an explanation for why they didn't enjoy the movie. But that doesn't mean anything to people who haven't read the comics. Whether the movie is good or bad has to depend on what's actually in the movie itself, not these what might have been scenarios

Like I liked the Initial D Chinese movie. It took a story, chopped it up into bits, combined characters, and did things differently, but that's why it's an adaption that makes the story I've seen a dozen times before interesting. If I wanted to see the original story again, I'd just rewatch the anime. Just think of the Scott Pilgrim movie as an alternate telling of the same story and don't worry about it being different from the comic. It's okay and sometimes kind of unavoidable for things to be different in transition

Edit: Hey Ash discusses the alternate ending/bonus features for Scott Pilgrim:
http://www.mevio.com/episode/257425/haw ... ra-bullock

[Hyperwire]

Saw it in theathers at the local premire with my buddy, we both loved it. Blu-Ray comes out, I'm getting it for X-mas, but discovered it in my Mom's target bag... I wanna watch it, Mom said "can't your just Nexflix it?" Response: "No, Netflix doesn't ship movies until a month after they've been on the market." Her response: "Oh."

Now I'm sitting here, Movie-less...

[Skiks]

I'm waiting for that too. It's not too far away. It'll be on the 7th of December. I'd buy it but I'll just blame kamen rider for my inability to buy other things.

[Kami_no_Kamen]

So its official, I am a Knives fanboy, I couldnt stop thinkin bout that little.... That girl I mean, anyways. I was at work and seen a bang of asian girls, I think I have a thing for asians now... :O

[Kogashi]

Saw this in theaters the night it came out with some friends... And somehow my prediction was right, the theater was more than half full by the start of the trailers, and half of the people who came in were dressed in the style of the evil exes

As for the movie itself, I liked it, it was fun, over the top and all that... and yet I felt bad for liking it... It just, it's as if the source material is made by a total nerd (Scott) and yet it also felt like the movie was made by the perfect asshole (G-man) who by making this movie directly aimed at people like me, that I was just feeding his perfect asshole machine... But hey that's me, still liked it I just feel weird about liking it.

[Arigomi]

Maybe it's convincing as true love or fated love, but I can go with Ramona is trying new things, like mostly-nice guys, and Scott's obsession with Ramona is kind of inexplicable, but a lot of feelings can be that way sometimes.

Scott's obsession with Ramona is based around her aura of mystery. He wants understand why she likes him but she is always teasing him with somewhat cryptic answers.

I'm bothered by the lack of a private moment between them that doesn't feel staged.

I don't really understand the "knowing people like them in real life" comment since everyone in the movie is a caricature to the extreme. Isn't that the point?

It is hard for me to articulate. While reading the comics, a lot of the characters didn't feel distinct enough and tended to mimic a faceless Greek chorus in the background. A lot of the personalities have roots in hipster culture. Just like with the videogame references, O'Malley assumes that his audience is familiar with the types of people that populate this subculture. More often than not, the way I pictured each of the characters drastically changed after watching the movie.

I forgot to mention that I am extremely skeptical about coming of age stories. They are very complex narratives that express a wide range of emotions. These stories need to illustrate the feelings of naive youth while making the transition to the bittersweet wisdom of maturity. The journey also needs revelations that open the door to the future. In some ways, the Scott Pilgrim comics were Bryan Lee O'Malley's own coming of age in his professional life. This a situation where art imitates life and life imitates art. As a result, I felt the messages of Scott Pilgrim haven't gone through the rigorous introspection I expect from coming of age stories.

I never expected to have so much to say about this movie but I can't help myself when fans and reviewers alike make bold statements like "best movie of the year". Maybe I will watch "The Social Network" someday even though I'm pretty sure I won't like it.

[Anime_freek22]

This movie was great. The general insanity of all of the fights and effects along with the music made this incredibly fun. But the 5th and 6th fight isn't very fun. It's rather boring.

[kokowaks]

it was a great movie...
ankh should consider a substitue/replacement for OOO...

i guess the reason for its poor performance was due to its narrow audience that most likely include teenagers and comic and video game enthusiasts... although i also feel that the production team really tried their best to make it to a mainstream type of movie but the theme and concept wasn't really for everyone which is kinda ironic since i think kick-ass was a movie originally designed to cater most of the comicbook guys but instead found its way to casual viewers...

[yumenotenshi07]

Comeau: The comic was better than the movie.

[Guardian07]

Because of all the fuss going around, I decided to check out this movie. I had to do a bit of searching because it wasn't shown in theaters where I live. And...

Overall I like it. I'm enjoying all the craziness and over-the-top fun =). The fights with the evil exes were my favourite parts of the movie. Also, Wallace was such a hilarious character. His actor is awesome. It had weak points of its own, but I still enjoyed it immensely for the high points.

I don't think I'll be getting the comics because then I had to go to Amazon for that since I can't find it anywhere, and I don't think my wallet can handle that XP. I already spent on the movie -_____-...

[FangTrigger]

I wish you guys could sub this movie, just for the fact that you create some awesome and eye catching karaoke.

[Niek]

I took a look at it as well. But I really have to say that I do NOT like this movie. It took me about 6 hours to get through the first half hour of the movie. I continuously found myself pausing the movie and go do something else out of boredom. The movie is just boring to the point that I contiously walk away from it after mere minutes of watching. The dialogue is stale, bland and boring. There is no emotion and or expression to the entire deal. And the acting comes over as totally forced that it just made me cringe.

There is one aspect about this movie that I totally like. That is the battle witch the exes. Those scenes are thrilling, have sweet visuals and a bunch of recognition. Besides these battles the movie just sucks.