"Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World"

Very fair criticism!

 

I finally caught this on Blu-ray the other day. Absolutely wretched. One of the most over-the-top pieces of crap I've seen in years.

To me, this was like the "smash-on-the head, Three Stooges" version of Tree of Life: just total crap without a real plot, bull**** performances, cardboard characters, snappy videogame cliches, wacky visuals...

I don't mind a fast-paced, slapstick approach to modern movies -- I loved (and still love) Kickass -- but this thing was one of the biggest pieces of crap I've seen in years. I understand completely why it was such an enormous bomb. I wish Roger Ebert had reviewed it, but somehow, it was one he seems to have deliberately avoided.

As much as Explorers?

 

On my list of films to get.

 

Started watching it when it was on TV a few months ago. I found something more interesting to do after 30 minutes like check Ebay or here.

 

I was sucked completely in for about the first 20 minutes or so but then I thought it became very repetitive in nature.

 

I guess this is one of those movies that either tickles your senses of humor and over-the-top absurdity or ...... not. Napoleon Dynamite had the same kind of effect: you either liked the humor in it, or thought it was the lamest attempt at comedy ever. In my own circle of family and friends, pretty much everyone loves BOTH of these movies.

For my money, Scott Pilgrim was one of the most fun movies I've watched in the past five years. I loved it when it came out in the theater, and I've totally enjoyed it on the Blu-Ray. The songs are fantastic, especially the ones penned by Beck for Sex Bob-Omb. "Garbage Truck" is brilliant, IMHO. But if you don't like that kind of music and songwriting, then I guess there is no value added when you watch the movie.

As I said though, people's reactions to Pilgrim, both positive and negative, seem to mirror the ones I remember from Napoleon Dynamite. I can't think of any other "fun" movies that inspired such impassioned arguments on both sides of the coin.

 

Same here. My kids watch this at least once a week, and if I happen to be nearby I get pulled in yet again. Still, I can understand the negative opinions.

John K.

 

Just like the videogames the film's based on . . .

I had the same reaction. Watching these videogame movies (to which I would add most superhero franchises as well as more direct homages like SCOTT PILGRIM) is usually no more enjoyable than watching someone else play a videogame for two hours.

BTW, I loved NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, KICK *** and even the first IRON MAN.

 

Er, actually it was based on a graphic novel series, and a really excellent one I might add.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Pilgrim

 

Having worked on Scott Pilgrim I'm absolutely tickled by the extremely varied opinions of it! If nothing else, it's... interesting.

 

I have a couple of Grandkids, ages 4 & 6, that watch Sid and Nancy constantly.

 

My second favorite film of last year; just a little below 'Black Swan' and slightly higher than 'True Grit and 'Social Network.'

I doubt it's possible to wear out a Blu-Ray, but I'm giving it the old college try, I am.

How was this not as popular as 'Shaun Of The Dead' or 'Hot Fuzz'?

 

Huh? I'm aware of the books. But the movie (and presumably the books) remain based on the longstanding videogame model of levels and bosses.

 

Oh, I get what you're saying, my bad. I thought you were referring to the specific Scott Pilgrim video game that was based on the film. Oops!

 

Nice film. Certainly not formulaic. Thought all the hipster talk would piss me off but it didn't! Why is anyone taking this film seriously? This isn't a serious fim. The comment about "cardboard characters" was absurd! No wait, the analogy to Tree of Life was beyond absurd!

 

+1
Think I'll watch it again this weekend.

 

I love absurd. I'm just not a fan of stupid and boring.

Hell, at least the Monty Python movies are funny -- never stupid, never boring, and they make sense... in a Python kind of way.

 

I thought this movie was pretty good. I guess I liked the music plus I was a big time gamer back in the day.

 

The polarization of people on this flick attests to it's future status as a cult classic.

I loved Scott Pilgrim and I still say the snow in Empire was too blue on DVD.

 

There's not a lot of cult classics that lost $50 million. Most of them were little films that happened to click and find an audience: Night of the Living Dead might be the first one, as well as Rocky Horror, Eraserhead, and more recently, Big Lebowski and Napoleon Dynamite.

I don't love all those films, but I liked all of them, and there's something good at the core of each of them. They're generally quirky and interesting, and none of them are even remotely bad films. Scott Pilgrim to me was just a buncha noise and characters that made no bloody sense, plus it tried to be a sort of "mini-blockbuster" film in a real loud and in-your-face kinda way, and it just seemed much too obnoxious to me.

Maybe the #1 thing I disliked about the movie is that there were no characters I could empathize with -- least of which the lead guy. Once there's nobody for me to root for, the film has lost me.

The movie I want to see would put Michael Cera in a death match with Jesse Eisenberg, maybe with Jon Heder in the wings. Now, there's a cult classic.

 

It helps if you've already seen one too many films with a manic pixie dream girl to stand around and be the reward for the lead guy and were REALLY ready for someone to have fun with indie cliches. Using video game rules instead of movie rules!

Plus; how can anyone NOT love a movie featuring Allison Pill with red hair, a pissed-off attitude and freckles? That's just fun on a stick, right there, that is. I lost any empathy at all for Pilgrim when they told us that he dumped Kim.

 

Well i guess that might hold some water but on the other hand, I don't go into cheeky movies looking for character development. I honestly went into this film assuming it would be too obnoxious for me and was pleasantly surprised.

 

Well, you never know. I'm about 40 minutes into watching this, and it's so uniquely fractured and affected and ADD-afflicted that some tastemakers may well rehabilitate it a few years down the road. Lord knows, if Heaven's Gate can be rehabilitated anything can.

I certainly don't know how anyone involved could've thought this might be a hit, though.