The first decade of the 20th century will be remembered in movie cinema as the rise of the comic book movie. Big budgets, explosions and special effects drove these movies into the theater were they currently seem to be parked and have no intention of leaving. These movies tend to leave little to the imagination and just rely on the costumes to drive the movies with some slick dialogue. Fortunately, these movies have opened the door for other franchises to be revived and for geek movies to rise and be a dominant force in cinema. It also opened the door for non-superhero comics to get a chance at being made into a movie. Thanks to this we were able to get the movie masterpiece of "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World."
The movie is based off of the comic series by Bryan Lee O'Malley. I've read the comic series and I love it. The book delves into the attitudes of the so-called "slacker" generation and how they deal with relationships. At first this would seem to be a total turn off for any decent comic nerd, but the author peppers in battles, video game references and plenty of humor to create a wonderful experience. The movie is able to capture the essence of the comic series, which should be the aim of every comic movie. The story focuses on the relationship between Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers. Through the story Scott must deal with Ramona's emotional baggage as well as his own. The story has them deal with this by having the characters actually fight their past romances, and it keeps these fights entertaining by having them be portrayed as if they were from a video game. Added to the movie is a ton of smart and witty comedy that gives you plenty to laugh at while the story moves along.
Casting in this movie did a fantastic job. Michael Cera plays the lead and through most of the movie he is playing his typical Michael Cera character, which works for this role. However, he does have to show a little more emotion than normally is required of him and he pulled it off very well. Mary Elizabeth Winstead also did a great job of portraying Ramona as someone you can understand why Scott falls for her, but also realize that she has problems. That is just the tip of the iceberg in this cast. The supporting characters steal the show with Brandon Routh, Chris Evans, Kieran Culkin, Jason Schwartzman and Ellen Wong leading the way. Each of these actors bring the funny to this film and it's great when any of them are on screen.
The director for this movie had to do a lot of work. Fortunately "Shaun of the Dead" director Edgar Wright was able to take the helm and steer this movie in the right direction. Instead of trying to make this movie work in the "real" world, he embraced the goofiness of the comic. That's the only way this movie works, trying to explain everything would have created a ton of needless exposition. By committing to the world of the comic and not surrendering any of that world, the movie worked. Why? Because they captured the essence of a great comic book.
This movie won't be a huge success. After two weeks in the theaters it's only made about 15 million dollars. I do however see this having a long life after the theaters. It will be a movie that I will pop in the DVD when I feel like watching a movie on a Saturday afternoon. It will be on TBS or Comedy Central constantly and I will turn it on every time. I really enjoyed this movie and that is why it gets 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - New Movie Review
The first decade of the 20th century will be remembered in movie cinema as the rise of the comic book movie. Big budgets, explosions and special effects drove these movies into the theater were they currently seem to be parked and have no intention of leaving. These movies tend to leave little to the imagination and just rely on the costumes to drive the movies with some slick dialogue. Fortunately, these movies have opened the door for other franchises to be revived and for geek movies to rise and be a dominant force in cinema. It also opened the door for non-superhero comics to get a chance at being made into a movie. Thanks to this we were able to get the movie masterpiece of "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World."
The movie is based off of the comic series by Bryan Lee O'Malley. I've read the comic series and I love it. The book delves into the attitudes of the so-called "slacker" generation and how they deal with relationships. At first this would seem to be a total turn off for any decent comic nerd, but the author peppers in battles, video game references and plenty of humor to create a wonderful experience. The movie is able to capture the essence of the comic series, which should be the aim of every comic movie. The story focuses on the relationship between Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers. Through the story Scott must deal with Ramona's emotional baggage as well as his own. The story has them deal with this by having the characters actually fight their past romances, and it keeps these fights entertaining by having them be portrayed as if they were from a video game. Added to the movie is a ton of smart and witty comedy that gives you plenty to laugh at while the story moves along.
Casting in this movie did a fantastic job. Michael Cera plays the lead and through most of the movie he is playing his typical Michael Cera character, which works for this role. However, he does have to show a little more emotion than normally is required of him and he pulled it off very well. Mary Elizabeth Winstead also did a great job of portraying Ramona as someone you can understand why Scott falls for her, but also realize that she has problems. That is just the tip of the iceberg in this cast. The supporting characters steal the show with Brandon Routh, Chris Evans, Kieran Culkin, Jason Schwartzman and Ellen Wong leading the way. Each of these actors bring the funny to this film and it's great when any of them are on screen.
The director for this movie had to do a lot of work. Fortunately "Shaun of the Dead" director Edgar Wright was able to take the helm and steer this movie in the right direction. Instead of trying to make this movie work in the "real" world, he embraced the goofiness of the comic. That's the only way this movie works, trying to explain everything would have created a ton of needless exposition. By committing to the world of the comic and not surrendering any of that world, the movie worked. Why? Because they captured the essence of a great comic book.
This movie won't be a huge success. After two weeks in the theaters it's only made about 15 million dollars. I do however see this having a long life after the theaters. It will be a movie that I will pop in the DVD when I feel like watching a movie on a Saturday afternoon. It will be on TBS or Comedy Central constantly and I will turn it on every time. I really enjoyed this movie and that is why it gets 4.5 out of 5 stars.
The movie is based off of the comic series by Bryan Lee O'Malley. I've read the comic series and I love it. The book delves into the attitudes of the so-called "slacker" generation and how they deal with relationships. At first this would seem to be a total turn off for any decent comic nerd, but the author peppers in battles, video game references and plenty of humor to create a wonderful experience. The movie is able to capture the essence of the comic series, which should be the aim of every comic movie. The story focuses on the relationship between Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers. Through the story Scott must deal with Ramona's emotional baggage as well as his own. The story has them deal with this by having the characters actually fight their past romances, and it keeps these fights entertaining by having them be portrayed as if they were from a video game. Added to the movie is a ton of smart and witty comedy that gives you plenty to laugh at while the story moves along.
Casting in this movie did a fantastic job. Michael Cera plays the lead and through most of the movie he is playing his typical Michael Cera character, which works for this role. However, he does have to show a little more emotion than normally is required of him and he pulled it off very well. Mary Elizabeth Winstead also did a great job of portraying Ramona as someone you can understand why Scott falls for her, but also realize that she has problems. That is just the tip of the iceberg in this cast. The supporting characters steal the show with Brandon Routh, Chris Evans, Kieran Culkin, Jason Schwartzman and Ellen Wong leading the way. Each of these actors bring the funny to this film and it's great when any of them are on screen.
The director for this movie had to do a lot of work. Fortunately "Shaun of the Dead" director Edgar Wright was able to take the helm and steer this movie in the right direction. Instead of trying to make this movie work in the "real" world, he embraced the goofiness of the comic. That's the only way this movie works, trying to explain everything would have created a ton of needless exposition. By committing to the world of the comic and not surrendering any of that world, the movie worked. Why? Because they captured the essence of a great comic book.
This movie won't be a huge success. After two weeks in the theaters it's only made about 15 million dollars. I do however see this having a long life after the theaters. It will be a movie that I will pop in the DVD when I feel like watching a movie on a Saturday afternoon. It will be on TBS or Comedy Central constantly and I will turn it on every time. I really enjoyed this movie and that is why it gets 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Mutiny on the Bounty - The Oscar Project Part VIII
Finally the Oscar Project continues!! Part VIII focuses on the 1935 film "Mutiny on the Bounty." It stars Clark Gable as Mr. Christian and Charles Laughton as Captain Bligh. It was directed by Frank Lloyd. Starting this film my only previous exposure to the story was thanks to "The Simpson" spoof done a few years back. The spoof didn't really give away much of the plot since the title takes care of that.
While looking into the history of this movie I learned the fascinating story about which this movie is based. The events depicted in the movie took place near the end of the 18th century. From what I read many of the differences between the movie and the real life events are trivial. The story follows that the H.M.S. Bounty was to travel to Tahiti to transplant Bread Fruit plants to the West Indies. After the ship left Tahiti, the ship crew committed mutiny and overtook it. Captain Bligh and those loyal to him that could fit on the launch boat were set a drift and they miraculously were able to make it to a friendly shore. In the meantime Christian and the mutineers sailed back to Tahiti and then to the island of Pitcairn to hide from a returning British ship. The movie focuses on this being a turning point for the way that sailors were treated by their captain at sea. It was interesting to later learn that several descendants from the voyage of the Bounty are still alive and living on the islands of Tahiti and Pitcairn.
Enough about the history lets take a look at the movie. The scripting of this movie was excellent. It did a very good job of showing why the men needed to commit mutiny and turned Bligh into the villain that he needed to be. Once the mutiny took place it then gave Bligh several chances to show why he was made a captain of a ship and gave him a few redeeming qualities instead of leaving him a villain. I like that this movie included this depth of character. Though a bit more closure on his character would have been welcome. The small bits of humor sprinkled throughout the movie gave welcome relief to how cruel the treatment of the men was portrayed.
Fortunately for the scriptwriter he had some incredible talent reading the lines. Leading the cast was Clark Gable playing the lead mutineer. By placing Gable in the role, he was able to use his ability for reason to show why the crew did not mutiny earlier and allowed the audience to be okay with the mutiny once it happened. He was upstaged I felt however by the performance of Charles Laughton as Captain Bligh. The character could have easily been one note and only portrayed as a villain. However Laughton adds layers. He portrays the wickedness of the character perfectly, but also captures the pride that the character has, his loyalty to the navy and his great skill in being a captain. By the end of the film there is even some sympathy for the character, but the wickedness was portrayed so well that the sympathy that is generated does not take away from the story.
The movie, with it's simple plot, feels like some of the blockbusters of today. While as it is filmed it may not win an Oscar, it feels like one of the tent pole blockbusters that a studio would plan their summer around, and one of the good ones too. If you want to check out an old classic movie but usually aren't into the more "artsy" stories this is for you. I really enjoyed this movie and it gets a 4.5 out of 5 stars.
While looking into the history of this movie I learned the fascinating story about which this movie is based. The events depicted in the movie took place near the end of the 18th century. From what I read many of the differences between the movie and the real life events are trivial. The story follows that the H.M.S. Bounty was to travel to Tahiti to transplant Bread Fruit plants to the West Indies. After the ship left Tahiti, the ship crew committed mutiny and overtook it. Captain Bligh and those loyal to him that could fit on the launch boat were set a drift and they miraculously were able to make it to a friendly shore. In the meantime Christian and the mutineers sailed back to Tahiti and then to the island of Pitcairn to hide from a returning British ship. The movie focuses on this being a turning point for the way that sailors were treated by their captain at sea. It was interesting to later learn that several descendants from the voyage of the Bounty are still alive and living on the islands of Tahiti and Pitcairn.
Enough about the history lets take a look at the movie. The scripting of this movie was excellent. It did a very good job of showing why the men needed to commit mutiny and turned Bligh into the villain that he needed to be. Once the mutiny took place it then gave Bligh several chances to show why he was made a captain of a ship and gave him a few redeeming qualities instead of leaving him a villain. I like that this movie included this depth of character. Though a bit more closure on his character would have been welcome. The small bits of humor sprinkled throughout the movie gave welcome relief to how cruel the treatment of the men was portrayed.
Fortunately for the scriptwriter he had some incredible talent reading the lines. Leading the cast was Clark Gable playing the lead mutineer. By placing Gable in the role, he was able to use his ability for reason to show why the crew did not mutiny earlier and allowed the audience to be okay with the mutiny once it happened. He was upstaged I felt however by the performance of Charles Laughton as Captain Bligh. The character could have easily been one note and only portrayed as a villain. However Laughton adds layers. He portrays the wickedness of the character perfectly, but also captures the pride that the character has, his loyalty to the navy and his great skill in being a captain. By the end of the film there is even some sympathy for the character, but the wickedness was portrayed so well that the sympathy that is generated does not take away from the story.
The movie, with it's simple plot, feels like some of the blockbusters of today. While as it is filmed it may not win an Oscar, it feels like one of the tent pole blockbusters that a studio would plan their summer around, and one of the good ones too. If you want to check out an old classic movie but usually aren't into the more "artsy" stories this is for you. I really enjoyed this movie and it gets a 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)