Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

[Zetor]

He's not alone. Watching the trailer only makes me think "what is this stupid shit?" and leave me with no desire to actually watch the movie.

This. Though I think part of the reason is that I am not an American (neither are you I think!), so it's very possible that we just don't "get" the references. :p

I am Canadian (live in Toronto in fact), and other then a few bits of name dropping (mostly for places / locations), I don't think there was anything in it that would even make it remotely Inaccessable to a non canadian viewer.   It was cool on a personal level to hear them go "and here is X band, from Brampton", or see Casa Loma used as a set piece, but that is no different then watching any generic american movie where someone mentions the Bronx or Harlem or the Jersey Shore or uses any american landmark as a set piece.

I don't mean landmarks, I mean the cultural references and such. There are several Hungarian comedy movies / cartoons that are IMO hilarious / awesome and pretty much everyone from my generation can recite the most awesome scenes from memory, but I doubt they'd be appreciated by non-Hungarians. I think the same thing is happening here (for me at least).

[SurfD]

cant really recall any Canada specific cultural references in there that would have gone over other people's heads (other then the nonchalance about his gay roommate).  90% of the cultural references would be more about the generation of video gamers it was constantly referenceing then anything else.   You could have set it in any major city in the US or Canada and I doubt anyone would have noticed a difference.

[Samwise]

I have a hard time believing that anyone who's found this website has trouble recognizing bog-standard video game tropes that make up most of the "cultural references" in this movie.  Having a broken funny bone is one thing, but being utterly confused when a defeated enemy turns into a pile of coins is something else entirely.

[Cyrrex]

For the sake of full disclosure, I have been playing video games for the better part of the last 30 years, so I understood all the important references.  I just thought it was a fairly idiotic concept to model a film on.

I don't think my funny bone is broken, though, I just think I'm not the right kind of person for this movie.  There certainly are people who will like it.

[Zetor]

I have a hard time believing that anyone who's found this website has trouble recognizing bog-standard video game tropes that make up most of the "cultural references" in this movie.  Having a broken funny bone is one thing, but being utterly confused when a defeated enemy turns into a pile of coins is something else entirely.

I never owned a console in my life and started my gaming carreer with gold box RPGs on my C-64. This probably makes me broken.  

Anyway, you're probably right -- it's just that I didn't find the trailer funny, and since almost everyone was, I figured the problem was me not "getting it". I was getting a (unfair comparison alert!) Jim Carrey vibe from it all coupled with random fourth-wall breakage (which is an ok gimmick, but eh), and Carrey makes me want to stab things. Maybe my funny bone IS broken, though I did like Zombieland.

edit: tangent, but I originally kinda drew a parallel with this hungarian cartoon / movie thing... I imagine it's 'ok, eh whatever' for most non-hungarians, but here it's universally acclaimed as the best cartoon (or even film!) ever made for the 80s generation.

[Samwise]

I never owned a console in my life and started my gaming carreer with gold box RPGs on my C-64. This probably makes me broken.  

See, I didn't own an NES growing up, but I still get at least the basic references because all my friends had them.  And many of the basic concepts (coins, stats, pee bars) transcend platform.  Not getting how it's clever and funny to translate those things into other mediums in this way is one thing, but not getting the references at all?

[LK]

I think having played and appreciated River City Ransom was a requirement to getting the most out of this.

[murdoc]

Saw this on Saturday and thought it was amazing. The Michael Ceraness of Michael Cera actually works for him and he's a good fit. I loved the casting of the Ex's, particularily Routh and Evans.  I appreciated the Canadian touches (Second Cup instead of Starbucks, all the coins being Canadian currency).

Awesome movie.

[Engels]

Ok, anyone posting that this movie is 'amazing', can you please clarify? Because from the trailer, I'm not getting the 'amazing' at all. It looks like a derivative Gen Y flick trying to be Napoleon Dynamite with high production value. Or worse.

Is there an interesting story arc? Is there deeper character development than the tralier leads one to think? Is the sampling of funny quips in the trailer not doing justice to the comedic genius of the full movie's antics?

Or am I just not part of the NES generation so I'm just not gonna get it? I was part of the Commodore 64/ZX-Spectrum generation, and there's nothing to celebrate about it. Glad it happened, glad we've moved past it. 40 minutes to load a game off a tape recorder SUCKS A BAG OF DICKS.

[Teleku]

Everybody stop trying to judge the damn movie by the trailer.  I wasn't particularly fond of the trailer either, and only actually saw this in theaters because I was dragged by other people.

Watch it then criticize.  I thought Hot Fuzz looked generic and retarded when I watched the trailer for it as well.

All the "NES" jokes in this movie are general nerd jokes that anybody who uses tech or even the damn internet will get.  It seemed pretty universal to me.  The only generational gap I can see would be for old people who have never logged onto the internet before.

But thats beside the point because a huge amount of jokes and gags in this movie weren't directly video game related.  Hell, I think they're are more gay jokes in the movie than nerd jokes.  If you didn't laugh your ass off at the Vegan Police scene, you are in fact broken.

[Lakov_Sanite]

Everybody stop trying to judge the damn movie by the trailer.  I wasn't particularly fond of the trailer either, and only actually saw this in theaters because I was dragged by other people.

Watch it then criticize.  I thought Hot Fuzz looked generic and retarded when I watched the trailer for it as well.

All the "NES" jokes in this movie are general nerd jokes that anybody who uses tech or even the damn internet will get.  It seemed pretty universal to me.  The only generational gap I can see would be for old people who have never logged onto the internet before.

But thats beside the point because a huge amount of jokes and gags in this movie weren't directly video game related.  Hell, I think they're are more gay jokes in the movie than nerd jokes.  If you didn't laugh your ass off at the Vegan Police scene, you are in fact broken.

I was hesitant about the vegan police until the very end of it in the slow-mo part in which i busted my gut laughing. that had nothing to do with nerd humor either, just good ole action movie trope.

[Prospero]

It's a coming of age story with a generally unlikable protagonist steeped in geek/NES culture. Personally I thought the script was solid; most movies that try to have an unlikable lead fail. His redemption at the end was well executed. The fights were fun and his roommate was fantastic. The editing was just ass sharp as Hot Fuzz which is a high compliment in my book.

[Engels]

thank you

[Cyrrex]

If you don't think a guy peeing and having his "pee bar" drain is funny, you will not like this movie.  If you don't think it's funny that a guy that has super powers because he is a vegan, and subsequently gets confronted by the Vegan Police due to accidentally drinking dairy product in a cup of coffee, who then drain him of his vegan powers and then gets exploded into a shower of coins via headbutt, then this isn't the movie for you.  And so on.

The movie itself is well constructed, well acted and even has a certain visual appeal.  I just found it to be fucking stupid as all hell.  It will all boil down to whether or not you find that sort of thing funny or not.

[Trippy]

I knew what to expect based on one of the trailers (some are better than others) and was not disappointed.

[Rasix]

If you don't think a guy peeing and having his "pee bar" drain is funny, you will not like this movie.  If you don't think it's funny that a guy that has super powers because he is a vegan, and subsequently gets confronted by the Vegan Police due to accidentally drinking dairy product in a cup of coffee, who then drain him of his vegan powers and then gets exploded into a shower of coins via headbutt, then this isn't the movie for you.  And so on.

Sounds hilarious.  How'd you get that giant stick wedged up your ass?

[murdoc]

The Pee Bar joke was one of the weaker ones and it was just used to fill the space in the transition that occured during that scene. This movie is a love letter to the NES generation, but not only for them. I went with a friend who knows absolutely nothing about videogames, and is clueless when it comes to the internet, but she laughed all through it and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's silly and visually over the top, but it's highly entertaining.

[Cyrrex]

If you don't think a guy peeing and having his "pee bar" drain is funny, you will not like this movie.  If you don't think it's funny that a guy that has super powers because he is a vegan, and subsequently gets confronted by the Vegan Police due to accidentally drinking dairy product in a cup of coffee, who then drain him of his vegan powers and then gets exploded into a shower of coins via headbutt, then this isn't the movie for you.  And so on.

Sounds hilarious.  How'd you get that giant stick wedged up your ass?

I wasn't trying to be an ass, I was describing some stuff straight from the movie.  Some people will find this sort of thing legitimately funny.  Some won't.  Nothing to get all frothy about.  I mean, I did admit to finding that Ramona chick quite hawt, so there is that.

[Samwise]

He wasn't implying that you are an ass, he's implying that you have a stick wedged up your rectum that prevents you from finding any of those things funny, and he's inquiring how it got there.  I think it's a very reasonable line of questioning.

[Cyrrex]

Fair enough, then.  I really wanted to like it, honest.

[Riggswolfe]

Ok, anyone posting that this movie is 'amazing', can you please clarify? Because from the trailer, I'm not getting the 'amazing' at all. It looks like a derivative Gen Y flick trying to be Napoleon Dynamite with high production value. Or worse.

Is there an interesting story arc? Is there deeper character development than the tralier leads one to think? Is the sampling of funny quips in the trailer not doing justice to the comedic genius of the full movie's antics?

Or am I just not part of the NES generation so I'm just not gonna get it? I was part of the Commodore 64/ZX-Spectrum generation, and there's nothing to celebrate about it. Glad it happened, glad we've moved past it. 40 minutes to load a game off a tape recorder SUCKS A BAG OF DICKS.

Ok. All I can say is this. From your questions here I don't think you'll like the movie. If you go in for story arcs and character development you're in the wrong theater. You should go to this movie to see a video game/comic book brought to life and to laugh at things like Kieran Culkins hilarious gay room mate.

[trias_e]

If you don't think a guy peeing and having his "pee bar" drain is funny, you will not like this movie.  If you don't think it's funny that a guy that has super powers because he is a vegan, and subsequently gets confronted by the Vegan Police due to accidentally drinking dairy product in a cup of coffee, who then drain him of his vegan powers and then gets exploded into a shower of coins via headbutt, then this isn't the movie for you.  And so on.

The movie itself is well constructed, well acted and even has a certain visual appeal.  I just found it to be fucking stupid as all hell.  It will all boil down to whether or not you find that sort of thing funny or not.

Yeah, I busted out laughing just reading your description of the vegan police scene.  Actually seeing it in action may leave me suffocating.  That's goddamn brilliant.  I will, however, grant you that a pee bar is dumb. 

Anyways, since I saw Hot Fuzz 6 times in theaters, I greatly look forward to seeing this, despite the concerns of raging-cera-hipster-annoyance.

[Merusk]

Dick, piss, shit and gay jokes are the low hanging fruit that always seem to get get tossed in a comedy movie.  What separates the good ones from the rest is if the toss-ins are just filler material during a slowdown to let you process other jokes rather than the bulk of the material.   One gives you Young Frankenstein, the other gives you "Disaster Movie" or anything by the Wayans brothers.

[Quinton]

Saw it tonight.  Was surprised to see a pretty decent crowd for a Monday night showing.

It was a lot of fun.  Laughed a lot and enjoyed the ride.  Can't complain.

[Kitsune]

The movie made fun of vegans, gay people, club kids, Canadians, nerds, skaters, bassists, asians, and probably some people I'm forgetting.  The fact that it managed to do so without being mean-spirited about it impressed me greatly.  Plus yeah, the whole thing was an homage to video games, so that helps.

[Khaldun]

I thought it was fairly funny, but I knew what it was going in, having read the comics. My major issue was kind of the same thing Seth Schiesel complained about in the NY Times today--that there's a really great emotional-development arc waiting to happen that would make this more than just some funny schticks messing around with video game tropes and it doesn't quite come off. Michael Cera is part of the problem--he just underplays Scott Pilgrim as yet another Cera schlub, but what's really needed is for the story to progressively reveal that Scott's a pretty decent and talented guy underneath the schlubbiness that he starts off with--that there's that kind of "levelling up" going on as he works through the Evil Exes. The comic does this better than the film. Plus there's the issue that Ramona is set up as Scott's attractive object of desire just because she has cool hair: she's not even given a scene that sets her up as cool or remarkable in any fashion (again the comic does this better). If there was more character and less schtick to Scott and Ramona, the film would be seriously awesome. As it is, it's very amusing, a lot of fun, but ultimately forgettable.

[KallDrexx]

I disagree.  Every movie that does that feels like it does a 180 in pacing and makes it feel like a completely different movie than the first half.  I like how Scott Pilgrim was because it was consistent throughout, even through the more "serious" scenes.

[Threash]

Scott Pilgrim vs The Matrix

[KallDrexx]

That's awesome.

[Slyfeind]

I thought it was fairly funny, but I knew what it was going in, having read the comics. My major issue was kind of the same thing Seth Schiesel complained about in the NY Times today--that there's a really great emotional-development arc waiting to happen that would make this more than just some funny schticks messing around with video game tropes and it doesn't quite come off. Michael Cera is part of the problem--he just underplays Scott Pilgrim as yet another Cera schlub, but what's really needed is for the story to progressively reveal that Scott's a pretty decent and talented guy underneath the schlubbiness that he starts off with--that there's that kind of "levelling up" going on as he works through the Evil Exes. The comic does this better than the film. Plus there's the issue that Ramona is set up as Scott's attractive object of desire just because she has cool hair: she's not even given a scene that sets her up as cool or remarkable in any fashion (again the comic does this better). If there was more character and less schtick to Scott and Ramona, the film would be seriously awesome. As it is, it's very amusing, a lot of fun, but ultimately forgettable.

Scott Pilgrim was many things, but I don't think anyone could say it was forgettable. Otherwise there wouldn't be so much arguing abou whether a pee bar is funny.

That said, I totally agree with all the remarks about characterization, or lack thereof. I don't agree that the "levelling up" was portrayed better in the comic, though. I hardly even noticed until I saw it on the screen.

Was he really played as another Cera Schlub? I never saw him as such a dick in his other movies.

[Samwise]

Yeah, your typical "Cera schlub" is usually more of a "sensitive good guy".  Scott's got the same sort of spacey-dorky attitude as most Cera roles, but he's a lot more self-involved and callous.

[HaemishM]

Saw this over the weekend during a rare double feature with Inception on the tail end.

Absolutely fucking brilliant from start to finish. I went in knowing I'd like it and was in no way disappointed. I knew nothing about the comic. This movie is a zeitgeist movie for the NES generation, perfectly encapsulating everything about them in one bite-sized chunk. Quick cut film editing, razor sharp wit, the visual style of an 80's TV show mixed with anime (come on, the changing hair colors alone should clue anyone in that this is a manga given form), the heavy reliance on music all throughout, the compressed time transitions. Utterly brilliant. So many good jokes, good action, great art design, good acting. I don't see Scott as Cera's typical character at all. In fact, he's a bit of a shallow dickbag in the beginning - he's dating a highschooler that he clearly doesn't really even give much of a shit about, who is really only there to bolster his ego. As soon as he sees Ramona, he cheats on Knives and dumps her for the hotter, older chick. That is so not Cera's typical guy and he plays it well.

I love the fact that they never called attention to the weirdness surrounding the world (villains turning into coins, pee bars, sound effects, kung-fu fighting) with some kind of wink wink nudge nudge mugging, the characters just accepted it as natural. That's a hard act to pull off in something so over the top.

I can understand why some people wouldn't like the movie, as it's really a strange hodge podge of so much stuff, but really, if you were under the age of 30 when the NES is big, you should get screaming fits of laughter all through this movie. If you do not, you are a horribly broken person.

[Slyfeind]

It seems to me the pee bar was just something that didn't translate well to the screen. In the book it was brilliant; not just the idea of it, but the way it was drawn and framed. I get the feeling Wright and/or Bacall went "That pee bar's awesome, how can we fit that in there?"

[Teleku]

....thats almost exactly like it was in the movie...

[Slyfeind]

And yet it seems more effective as drawings.