Adaptations. The laughing stock of the entertainment business for so very, very long. No matter where you look, you can be sure to see that 90 percent of adaptations are garbage. Anything that has found its origins in a piece of work in another medium is almost guaranteed to suck. At least, that was the case back in the old days. However, since around the time of the first Spider-man movie, things have been starting to turn around. Adaptations are becoming fantastic again.
So is the case for Scott Pilgrim vs. the world, an Oni press published graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O’Mally turned movie. Even the videogame adaptation is considered to be a masterpiece in the online marketplaces.
Edgar Wright is the man behind the curtains. As the director of movies such as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Wright is well respected. Once his name was attached to the movie, people were damned sure that this was going to be a movie of epic proportions.
The story follows a young man named Scott Pilgrim, age 22, who lives with his gay friend in a small apartment and who is in a band called the Sex Bob-Ombs. After a big break-up, Scott finds himself rebounding in the dating world by seeing a 17 year old, catholic schoolgirl called Knives Chau. Living his life by going through the motions, Scott meets an American girl called Ramona Flowers who moved to Toronto from New York. After a hard case of love at first sight, Scott makes his moves and quickly starts dating miss Flowers. Only one problem… she has seven evil ex-boyfriends. And if he wants to be able to date her, Scott is going to have to go through them.
At its core, the story is simple and to the point. It’s a very familiar story with a fantastically fresh twist to it. Although the story might be basic, everything else around this movie is not. Imagine No More Heroes. And for those of you not aware, NMH is a videogame for the Nintendo Wii starring Travis Touchdown. It’s a games game filled with sound effects like in batman and more videogame stereotypes all blended in to one big ball of madness. That is Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. And it is glorious. It’s loaded with sound effects, references and visual cues that are all reminiscent of games. Sometimes they’re even a big part of the story, but in a very believable way. Best shown at the final boss battle.
There’s a good chunk of actors in this movie that you should have already seen in other movies oriented to the crowd that would like this movie. Like the main man, Scott Pilgrim, is played by Michael Cera of Superbad fame. There’s also Chris Evans, who plays the cap himself in The First Avenger, Brandon Routh, who played Superman and will play Dylan Dog and then the cameo appearances of Clifton Collins Jr., who was in Stark Trek and Thomas Jane who played The Punisher in that adaptation that didn’t suck. All in all, great talent. The other actors all did their part wonderfully, especially Mary Elisabeth Winstead who did a fantastic job as Ramona Flowers. The members of Sex Bob-omb were all greatly portrayed as well.
One thing to note is that all of the performances are exactly as you would expect them to be in a movie like this. There’s not one really sticking out because they’re all in tune and all in the same state of mind. They’re all absolutely normal and absolutely insane at the same time.
Also, Kieran Culkin is in it. Macaulay’s brother.
Soundwise, the movie is quite alright. Aside the many, many videogame tunes and tweets, you’ll hear some fantastic songs to go along. Notably the songs of Sex Bob-omb. Because what you saw is what you got. They performed those songs themselves, from the instruments to the voice. Which is quite awesome if you ask me.
For the rest, the songs are pretty much what you expect to find in a fast paced, geek-oriented and quick-fix movie. It’s one of those movies like Fast and Furious, Crank and Black Dynamite where you can just sit and enjoy every aspect of the movie without having to think all that much.
In the end, this movie is one of the best adaptations you will ever see and it was one of the best movies of 2010, without a doubt. The movie is just a blast to watch, from start to finish. It’s plain and simple fun.
9/10
I so lesbians this movie.
What? You had to have seen that coming …
So is the case for Scott Pilgrim vs. the world, an Oni press published graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O’Mally turned movie. Even the videogame adaptation is considered to be a masterpiece in the online marketplaces.
Edgar Wright is the man behind the curtains. As the director of movies such as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Wright is well respected. Once his name was attached to the movie, people were damned sure that this was going to be a movie of epic proportions.
The story follows a young man named Scott Pilgrim, age 22, who lives with his gay friend in a small apartment and who is in a band called the Sex Bob-Ombs. After a big break-up, Scott finds himself rebounding in the dating world by seeing a 17 year old, catholic schoolgirl called Knives Chau. Living his life by going through the motions, Scott meets an American girl called Ramona Flowers who moved to Toronto from New York. After a hard case of love at first sight, Scott makes his moves and quickly starts dating miss Flowers. Only one problem… she has seven evil ex-boyfriends. And if he wants to be able to date her, Scott is going to have to go through them.
At its core, the story is simple and to the point. It’s a very familiar story with a fantastically fresh twist to it. Although the story might be basic, everything else around this movie is not. Imagine No More Heroes. And for those of you not aware, NMH is a videogame for the Nintendo Wii starring Travis Touchdown. It’s a games game filled with sound effects like in batman and more videogame stereotypes all blended in to one big ball of madness. That is Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. And it is glorious. It’s loaded with sound effects, references and visual cues that are all reminiscent of games. Sometimes they’re even a big part of the story, but in a very believable way. Best shown at the final boss battle.
There’s a good chunk of actors in this movie that you should have already seen in other movies oriented to the crowd that would like this movie. Like the main man, Scott Pilgrim, is played by Michael Cera of Superbad fame. There’s also Chris Evans, who plays the cap himself in The First Avenger, Brandon Routh, who played Superman and will play Dylan Dog and then the cameo appearances of Clifton Collins Jr., who was in Stark Trek and Thomas Jane who played The Punisher in that adaptation that didn’t suck. All in all, great talent. The other actors all did their part wonderfully, especially Mary Elisabeth Winstead who did a fantastic job as Ramona Flowers. The members of Sex Bob-omb were all greatly portrayed as well.
One thing to note is that all of the performances are exactly as you would expect them to be in a movie like this. There’s not one really sticking out because they’re all in tune and all in the same state of mind. They’re all absolutely normal and absolutely insane at the same time.
Also, Kieran Culkin is in it. Macaulay’s brother.
Soundwise, the movie is quite alright. Aside the many, many videogame tunes and tweets, you’ll hear some fantastic songs to go along. Notably the songs of Sex Bob-omb. Because what you saw is what you got. They performed those songs themselves, from the instruments to the voice. Which is quite awesome if you ask me.
For the rest, the songs are pretty much what you expect to find in a fast paced, geek-oriented and quick-fix movie. It’s one of those movies like Fast and Furious, Crank and Black Dynamite where you can just sit and enjoy every aspect of the movie without having to think all that much.
In the end, this movie is one of the best adaptations you will ever see and it was one of the best movies of 2010, without a doubt. The movie is just a blast to watch, from start to finish. It’s plain and simple fun.
9/10
I so lesbians this movie.
What? You had to have seen that coming …
I never read the comics but I did like the movie. nice review.
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