1-UP: "Scott Pilgrim Vs.The World" Review

     This is a very very unique film. One that combines a mundane romance story with the frantic action of a video game. Based on a graphic novel this movie was tasked with cramming six books into 112 minutes. With a lot of visual flair, and a hint of indie-retro style, this film is does a good job at making the screen very eye catching, unfortunately the plot falters slightly in it's attempt to bring the series to the screen.

     Michael Cera is Scott Pilgrim, a 20-something bassist in the garage band "Sex Bob-omb" (That's just one of the many game references in the movie). Scott falls in love with the mysterious Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) after he sees in her in a dream. Things get crazy quickly when Scott finds out that to date Ramona he must defeat her 7 evil exes. That is really the extent of the story, but it is executed very well.

     If you can't tell there is a lot of fighting in this movie. The fight scenes are packed with constant action and it all maintains a very comic/video game feel to them, even to the point where Pilgrim gets a combo meter fighting an enemy. Each fight is entertaining in it's own way, and there isn't that much repetition. The scenes without fighting are pretty good to, thanks largely to the talented cast.

    While the film does have a very good cast, there are so many people in the film that it seems like some of the best characters are barely on screen. The main actors are great Cera and Winstead play off each other well. Scott's roommate Wallace Wells (Kieran Culkin) does a good job of playing the character to call Scott to action. Scott's other friends/band mates Kim Pine (Alison Pill) Stephen Stills (Mark Webber) and Young Neil (Johnny Simmons) are about as accurate to the book as you could ever get.

Just a few of the characters

     The only problem in with the story is that the 7 evil exes, while still fairly enjoyable in the movie, were much more fleshed out in the books. Each villain (except exes 5&6,the twins) got a whole book, this allowed for bigger roles. Two of the exes (my favorite ones), Todd Ingram (Brandon Routh) and Roxy Richter (Mae Whitman), encountered Pilgrim several times before actually being defeated. This is a minor complaint though, because when they are on screen they are very enjoyable to watch.

    Speaking of watching, like I stated before, this movie is visually captivating in a way that I haven't seen in a while. From the crazy opening credits to the final battle, everything is full of color. The effects are pretty much cgi, but it is not a downfall of the film. The world is mashed up with pixelation and fights that defy every law of science.

Like this, except crazier

  Sometimes movies have and alright right soundtrack, and sometimes movies are like "Scott Pilgrim" and have one of the best soundtracks of the year. The music for the band "Sex-Bob-omb", a very garage band style, was created by Beck, and it's some of the best stuff I've heard from him in awhile. Mixed in with this is some indie music and even a brief piece of classic "Legend of Zelda" tunes. To make matters even more awesome the film's score is great too, mixing intense fanfare of action movies with the bleeps and boops of video games.

    This movie is so close to being perfect it kind of sucks that it falls victim to the problem most "books to movies" face, there's just too much to put into one film. There are so many characters, places, and scenarios in the movie that it feels overloaded, and it doesn't even get everything onto the screen. If the film could maybe be split in two it might have work, but alas the one will have to do.

    That is not saying that it isn't everything it could be. "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World" is the best condensing that could ever be down to a great graphic novel. It gets just enough of the books in it to make it very very appealing. So if you enjoyed the movie, check out the books! They are quite an enjoyable read, and there's more to enjoy.

    From the visuals to the music to the actors everything works well in the movie. It all fits together like some big crazy indie-videogame-comic book homage that guarantees to entertain. The movie knows full well how absurd it is and embraces that fact and takes it full force. If you like video games, comics, and/or Michael Cera check out this movie! It's not perfect, but it's a pretty good 4 outta 5!

BlandMan; Batman: Under the Red Hood Review

Since the 90's it's usually a guarantee that the animated Batman properties would be good. Since the animated series a lot has gone into crafting quality stories with top notch animation and grade A voice acting. "Under the Red Hood" is a movie clearly made in a post "Dark Knight" world, but unfortunately it can't decide if it wants to be like the Christopher Nolan Batman or the animated series version and the end result is an overall bland affair.

The story revolves around Batman taking on The Red Hood a new vigilante who isn't afraid to use extreme measures to fight crime a.k.a. murder. The story starts at the pivotal scene in "A Death in the Family" where the second Robin, Jason Todd, is murdered by the Joker. The rest of the film is based on "Under the Hood" a story about the Red Hood and the possibility that it is Jason Todd.

There are really three main characters in the film. Batman, the Red Hood, and the Black Mask (A villain anybody not familiar with the comics wont be aware of) and the film revolves around both Black Mask and Batman attempting to put an end to the Red Hood's vigilantism. The Joker is in the movie, not that much, but he is pretty important to the film.

Action is the best thing about the film. The fight scenes are frantic and action packed, and because it's a PG-13 movie it can get fairly violent for an animated movie. The character design is alright, it's a little too generic for a cartoon. This is where it becomes apparent that they are trying to emulate the Nolan style of Batman. While the action is over the top and crazy, the way the characters look and talk are way too low key for this type of movie.

This is the one big weak spot of the film for me, the voice acting. Batman's actor, Bruce(weird) Greenwood, is ok, it's almost close enough to the animated series actor that it passes. Nightwing, the first Robin, is done well by Neal Patrick Harris, but he's in the film for a total of about 15 minutes. The one real bummer of an actor is John DiMaggio (Bender from Futurama) as Joker, he plays this character way to timidly.

The whole portrayal of the Joker in this film is way to subtle, he just doesn't have that psychotic nature he has in other work. This is how most of the film feels, too subtle. It tries to hard to be the new type of Batman instead of it's own thing. If you're gonna do animated Batman go all the way, not this weird, trying to be real stuff, leave that to the movies with real people.

The movie doesn't really work well until the last 10 to 15 minutes.If you like Batman at least check it out, it's not great but it's something. If this impresses you definitely check out the 90's animated show, that's some compelling Batman. As for this, well it's not quite compelling, just some nice animation to look at. Eh, 2.5 outta 5

Kicked Up a Notch; The Kick-Ass Review

Superhero movies are pretty hot right now, but the new trend is making these heroes more realistic, superheroes that we can relate to. "Kick-Ass" takes this idea and runs with it, taking a visceral look at what would happen if an average kid donned a super persona. Based on a comic of the same name, the film follows Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) a guy who decides one day that he wants to fight crime. He soon finds himself in way over his head as more heroes enter the picture. While he is the main character the real show stoppers are Nicolas Cage and Chloe Grace Moretz as the father-daughter team of Big Daddy and Hit-Girl. Nick Cage's performance goes from Adam West levels of cheesiness to being one of the more intimidating superheroes, but Hit-Girl takes the prize for toughest character. The eleven year old assassin slices her way through multiple thugs while spouting some of the dirtiest language in the film, it's pretty entertaining, and it really reflects the talent of the actress, who when out of character calls the movie "Kick-Butt" because she can't say ass. Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Aka Superbad's McLovin') does a pretty good job as a superhero as well, but really Cage and Moretz are the ones you'll remember. The story is pretty fast paced and the cinematography is snazzy as well. The characters are all likeable, even the villains to some degree, all in all it's a good movie. Once again lots of violence/language so don't assume just because there's an eleven year old in it that it's the new "Spy Kids" movie or something. If you like Superhero movies with a bit of wit and grit, check out "Kick-Ass" it... Kicks Ass... 5 out of 5!