Customer Reviews

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

5 star:		(227)
4 star:		(46)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(26)

 

 

First things first, it was Not a cut and paste of the books.
It was as funny, as innovative, as lovable, as heartfelt, and as humble as the books.
My favorite part of the books though, was that they were just really fun. I felt a smile on my face while I read it.
The movie version doesn't lose that.

Some characters are far gayer (weird, I expected to see a red line under that word), and some characters are far less.
Some lost face time and others gained, but I can't think of a single Book-to-Movie edit that was a bad call. (considering they had to cut about 75% of all character development/back stories)

It feels inappropriate to use the same old words and phrases to praise a movie that was slathered with completely new things I've never seen in a movie or script. I owe Edgar Wright and Brian Lee O'Malley an attempt though...

-Any one scene from this movie could be viral on YouTube on its own.
-My 'Love the Movie' to 'Hate the Wait til DVD' Ratio is equal at ' : '
-If there'd been a 15 ft tall facebook "Like" button at the end of the movie, I would've thrown my full weight against it.
-There were parts were I wanted to ignore the movie just to have something new to watch when I see it again in a few days.
-I'm dude-pregnant with the movie's baby.

This movie easily makes my Top 10.
If you haven't read the books, you'll only understand about 98% of the plot and 96% of the jokes.
I'll save a spolier-laden critique of the movie for at least a week or two after the movie.
What's important now is that you understand how hard this movie does all the undefinable things it does.
Rating: Awesome
(How many reviews will have that in them? Over/Under: 249.5)

[review taken from [...]]

The weekend of August 13, 2010, saw three major studio releases for each target audience: The Expendables [Blu-ray] for males, Eat Pray Love [Blu-ray] for females, and "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" for kids, teens and young adults. Being a recent fan of the Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Boxset series of graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley, I was looking forward to the film adaptation - especially after hearing of the casting (most notably, Michael Cera) and the director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead [Blu-ray], Hot Fuzz (Ultimate Edition) [Blu-ray]). I'm not the biggest fan of Wright's work; while I thought they were slightly funny films, I don't fall into the large masses who say they're the most hilarious contemporary films. Still, I like Wright's filmmaking style and I knew he'd do a great job with the material.

There are quite a few people who believe Michael Cera acts the same in every movie and TV show he is in. And, depending on the actor, that can either be OK or extremely annoying. Cera does generally have the same acting methods, but, to me, it works for him. He has mastered the act of shy-but-hilarious, slightly neurotic geek, and I never tire of - or fail to laugh at - any role he portrays. And I'm a firm believer in that saying: if it ain't broke, don't fix it! The bottom line is: if you despise Cera then don't see this film as you'll probably only be rolling your eyes through most of it since it's his movie, and this film deserves more than that.

I know people may laugh at the thought of a bestselling memoir geared towards women ("Eat Pray Love") being compared to a bestselling graphic novel geared towards male adolescents. But, trust me, their meanings are similar. As I stated in my review for "Eat Pray Love," it's a story about a writer taking a quest in Italy, India and Bali to forget her problems, start anew, and experience flavor and deep contemplation only to realize that you can't run from who you are; you have to be comfortable with who you are and make peace with what's happened in your life ... the good and the bad ... whether it was your doing or someone else's. It's no big surprise spoiler that Julia Roberts' Gilbert finds love and self-respect for herself and, at the same time, makes peace with the hurtful choices she's made. Now onto Cera's Scott Pilgrim. Although it's more prevalent in the books, the viewer can also tell in the film that Pilgrim is not only a slacker financially, but also in self-respect and accountability. He's made bad, selfish choices in love and he takes the universal young generation response whenever it comes to any sort of confrontation: "whatever." Nevertheless, I found his character much more likeable than Roberts' Gilbert.

The film, "Scott Pilgrim" is told in a visual way that has the style format of a video game and comic book with the main character - finding himself having to fight - oops! - I mean, defeat the seven evil ex-boyfriends of his newest love interest, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). It's all metaphor for the baggage we carry when dating someone. Not only does one deal with the issues of our significant other's romantic past (how it affects them emotionally), but you also deal with your own insecurities and vulnerability when entering into a relationship and - unless your beloved has lived in a cave and had no prior romantic relationships - how your spouse's past suitors measure up to you. It's a silly, self-destructive game we play in our love lives, but everyone does it ... especially more frequently when we're younger.

SPOILER ALERT!
It's only when Pilgrim confronts his unresolved issues and finds self-respect that he truly wins "the game." And the girl. We see the transformation of a somewhat judgmental guy turn into a man who can love someone for who they truly are, including their flaws.
SPOILER ENDS!

As I said, the film, like its literary original, utilizes the comic panel sound effects of BAM, WHOOSH, etc., and cool, quirky characters, as well as the video game staples of coin dispersal after defeating an opponent, earning an extra life and special weapons, the countdown to continue a game, and the versus fight mode including fight combos and booming voice-over narration of "K.O.!" It's a unique, fresh style that I'm surprised hasn't been attempted before. Don't mistake me for some diehard gamer; even though I owned an original Xbox, I haven't been heavily involved with video games since the original Nintendo. Regardless, I loved the style Wright brought to the screen thanks to creator O'Malley. Second to Robert Rodriguez's film adaptation of Frank Miller's Frank Miller's Complete Sin City Library (Sin City (Two-Disc Theatrical & Recut, Extended, and Unrated Versions) [Blu-ray]), this is the closest the viewer will get to a comic book come to life! And while that sounds spectacular to some; there will be others that find the movie just plain weird. It is weird. But it's a weird that's kind of great. It has wonderful meaning and great depth underneath the generation-X trappings of vegans, garage bands, cheat codes, straight edge, and "whatever."

I was surprised to love the book as much I do because it's made up of what I mostly dislike with comics: it resembles a manga (I despise those!), it's black-and-white, and the art is more cartoonish rather than realistic (although, it does grow on you). Since I do love it, though, it's no surprise I enjoyed the film. It was wonderful seeing all the dialogue and one-liners from the books actually being said out loud, facial expressions and all. Cera, Winstead, and Kieran Culkin stand out in the film, while the evil exes each do good at providing humor while simultaneously presenting to Scott with a different issue or concern regarding his blossoming relationship with Ramona; but Scott's not the only one who has to confront issues, Ramona also finds herself having to face Scott's baggage. The soundtrack and score are impressive and I like them but I can see how it's not as appealable to a wide audience as the (500) Days Of Summer-Music From The Motion Picture (the best track on Pilgrim's soundtrack is Metric's "Black Sheep," which is used as a song sung by The Clash at Demonhead). The songs all work splendidly in the film - i.e., when Ramona drives off with evil ex Gideon, the Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb" is appropriately being played on the car stereo (check out the lyrics to know just how appropriate it is). Lastly, for a story that took six books to tell, it's expected that not everything from those books will be included in the film. In most films adapted from books, it seems most screenwriters leave out the best parts and add in the most lame. Don't fret, though. Screenwriters Wright and Michael Bacall kept in all of the cool lines and important scenes central to the story of Scott and Ramona; some lines are mixed with different scenes compared to the books, but it all still works out really well and, overall, stays true to the books (i.e., in the books, Ramona fights Scott's ex, Envy, but in the film, Ramona fights one of her evil exes, Roxy). Some funny parts fall flat but it's few and far between.

"Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" is a fun, weird, fresh, innovative movie that's destined for cult status. Take that as you want, but, to this critic, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Of course the dvd isn't out yet so i cant say anything useful in that area and i've never read the comic either BUT.... This movie is absolutly amazing! A visual masterpiece. Its like watching both a comic book and a video game at the same time all wrapped up in a neat little romantic comedy. Its really sad when a great movie like this is over looked and so many other less deserving movies make money. if you have ever played a video game and read a comic book this is the movie you have been waiting for.

Just got my copy on 7/21/11. To let everyone know, the packaging now says NOTHING about there being a DVD inside (no +DVD on the spine, nor DVD below the Bluray square on the lower left of the back packaging. Rest assured, the DVD is inside the packaging.

EDIT: As of 9-19-2011, the reference to a Digital Copy has been removed. Thanks for your support. The review has been left intact for "archival purposes."

It's not in the title anymore, but the product description still indicates (NLA as of 9-19-2011) that the package comes with a digital copy.

Nope. Not anymore.

Still, you get a Blu-ray and a DVD for a good price...and a useless string of digits that was supposed to get you the digital copy promised on the cardboard sleeve.

Email Universal and anyone else who pulls a stunt like this and let them know it's bogus.

EDIT: A couple more notes about the Blu-ray presentation, since I finally got around to watching it.

The disc is FULL of special features, from behind the scene looks (45+ minutes of the daily blog journal that Edgar Wright kept) to deleted scenes to an astoundingly large photo gallery (broken down by category) to one of my favorites, the TV-friendly excerpt edit, in which even the mildest swear words are replaced with innocuous substitutes.

But the disc is also FULL of commercial trailers and the like. I had to go through at least four to get to the main menu, and then the menu itself had promotional crap attached to it. This business of studios considering disc buyers a captive audience and contaminating the experience with unrelated promotional crap is getting out of hand.

..... that is what I told my friends when I saw the trailer. One of my friends went to see it and he told all of us it was the movie of the year or decade or whatever so I was almost forced to go watch it by everyone and guess what? I was probably the one laughing the loudest. Talk about judging a book by its cover.... this movie was awesome.... I felt so attached to the characters for reasons I cannot explain. I had lots of laugh out loud moments so I enjoyed it. And what the hell is up with that girl, Ramona Flowers ... I feel she's hot but its nothing like I would say is the standard of hot if there is such a thing. She just naturally made my focus on her so mesmerizing but I'm going off topic here. Over-all I give the movies a 9/10 because two of the fights I found a bit weak like the concert one but the music redeems it and Inception remains my number one movie as of now with Ram--Scott Pilgrim not far behind

Best movie of the year--- Pure Awesome in a can. I didn't originally expect much from this one, but it really was enjoyable. If you can just watch, take it for what it is, and go with the flow, it's a great ride. The video game / comic book feel is great. If only reality was as fun.

After watching the movie, I went out and bought the comics-- and they were great as well. The ending diverges a little, and the books obviously spend much more time on the back stories---much more info on Envy, Scott and Kim's past, Ramona, Stills, everything and more. Comparing the movie to the books-- I fully understand why most of the 7 evil ex's had less backstory-- but I felt that they kept the story linear and to the point. If you're just seeing it all for the first time, you can enjoy it all and not feel like you're missing anything. Definitely give it a shot. And, if you like it, the books are even better.

It looks like a dumb movie, but its simply one of the best movies i've seen since The Dark Knight. Loved it. Buy it, you won't be sorry.

This movie LOOKED bad: the trailers made it look like a movie made of purely nerdy but stupid jokes leaving no room for other people to be interested while insulting nerds' intelligence.
So, is this movie loaded with obscure references to video games, anime, rock bands, and comic books? Well, yeah. But even without that the movie is loaded with witty dialogue, a clever story, a fantastic cast, and great action.
For fans of the graphic novels: is it better? No. Is it totally faithful to the original story? No. But is it a solid telling that translates well to the big screen? Hell yeah.
Also, the music is phenomenal.
Is my review biased? Yeah - this movie was crafted for my demographic. I feel absolutely catered to by this film.

I was just looking for a way to kill some time today and saw that most critics gave Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World positive reviews. I expected nothing more than mild entertainment, like my mindset when seeing The Expendables, but I left the theater with a surprise thought in my head. I have seen 35 movies in theaters so far this year, but the one I just walked out of is my second favorite, behind only Inception. I didn't expect that at all. It probably helped that the audience I saw it with was very vocal in the laugh department and that's always a plus when watching a comedy. I can't remember the last time I laughed as much at the movies. The dialogue and editing are very clever, but it's all the visual gags that take it beyond anything I've ever seen. Whether it's all the video game related music and concepts, or the Seinfeld theme, followed by a scene with a laugh track coming out of nowhere, it never stops thinking of new ways to make you smile in awe of it. To make a great thing even better, it also pulls off the action element and a minor romantic angle for the ladies. The fight scenes are creative and unique, and they even found room to throw in a few original rock tunes.

I'm not the biggest Michael Cera fan, mainly because he's always acts the same, though I do admit that nobody can play a dork like him. His timing and delivery is excellent and he even had me believing in Michael Cera the action star by the end. This is easily my favorite role of his. Mary Elizabeth Winstead was another bit of perfect casting. She even managed to look good in all three of her crazy hair colors. Kieran Culkin got more than his share of laughs as Cera's gay roommate. All of the other supporting players (Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, Anna Kendrick and Jason Schwartzman being some of the big names) from top to bottom were amazing, without a single weak link.

Writer/Director, Edgar Wright, of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz fame, got nearly everything right with this mini-masterpiece. You don't have to be a gamer to enjoy it, but it will sure make you appreciate it that much more. I guess I'm gonna have to make some room in my Blu-ray collection for this baby.