Cinematic Central

I wrote a little while ago about how it seems games that are considered cinematic are regarded as masterpieces, while movies that are considered gamey are terrible. Well, after watching Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, we finally have a movie that is both gamey and good! If you’re wondering what type of game Scott Pilgrim is supposed to be, it all depends on perspective. Most people will get a Legend of Zelda vibe from the soundtrack and progression, while more intense gamers may feel something more like Devil May Cry and No More Heroes.

 Scott Pilgrim is a movie adaption of a comic book series of the same name (which interestingly enough isn’t actually finished yet), brought to us by Edgar Wright, director of both Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, both of which are I liked. Now I was a little bit skeptical when I first saw the trailer, because a) it featured Michael Cera and therefore made me think of another socially awkward teen flick, and b) because it looked like a hipster film (on reflection, when there is Michael Cera, there is a hipster film, and vice versa). I was however thankfully proven wrong as the film actually makes fun of hipsters and Michael Cera seems to have grown some balls for once! It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the role of Scott Pilgrim is Michael Cera’s best role to date. Speaking of acting, all of the acting in this film is top-notch. I loved everything about it, from Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Scott’s girlfriend Ramona Flowers, Kieran Culkin as Scott’s sarcastic and gay roommate Wallace Wells, Ellen Wong as Scott’s obsessive ex-girlfriend Knives Chau, to even Mark Webber, Alison Pill, and Johnny Simmons as members of the band Sex Bob-omb (a nice little reference for all those gamers out there). After seeing them play their roles so well, I seriously can’t think of anyone else who could’ve done a better job than these guys.

 The terrific special effects and the plot of Scott fighting Ramona’s seven evil ex’s all help with the gamey feel, especially the special effects. Things such as Scott accumulating points from battle, people exploding into coins when killed, 8-bit soundtracks, power-ups, and even a pee meter all add to this idea of a world run by video game logic, sort of like the T.V. show Code Monkeys, which also ran on video game logic and including a pee meter (amongst other things). This use of special effects is not only a terrific way to do a video game movie, but also a terrific way to do a comic book movie! This especially true when sounds effects or dialogue appears on screen with the appropriate text, which is reminiscent of the old days of Batman and Robin where POW! Would replace or accompany someone getting punched in the face.

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Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is the new directorial effort from Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun Of The Dead) starring Michael Cera and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. When I first heard Edgar Wright would be releasing a new film I was excited, that is until I saw the trailer. Something about it just didn’t vibe with me and I was starting to doubt the movie. How wrong was I. Within the first five minutes of the film I was laughing and totally enjoying the fun. I started to feel stupid for ever doubting Edgar Wright.

The film was a ton of fun, I was fully entertained from the first second to last. In a nutshell the film is visually stunning and plays much like a video game. From time to time I had flashbacks from the 8-Bit era, from the music to seeing Scott grab that pixelated 1-Up icon. The film is so perfectly edited and I haven’t seen a movie look like this before. The acting in the film was a strong point, it was great to see Michael Cera stray away from his normal “Socially awkward” visage and actually kick some serious ass. As for Mary Elizabeth Winstead, let’s just say a majority of the people in the theatre walked out with a new crush. 

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is the most fun I’ve had at the theaters in a long time and it easily tops my “Best of the year so far” list. I highly recommend it.

-Dave

FanExpo Canada 2010 is steadily approaching and will arrive at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on the weekend of August 27-29. The Cinematic Central staff will be prodiving day to day coverage of all the events that FanExpo 2010 has to offer. Be sure to stay tuned.

One must wonder how long it took for the creator of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups to perfect the formula. Now, it does go without saying that it isn’t that hard to realize that chocolate with peanut butter is good, but how many other combinations could the person have tried before settling on the current formula? This slightly mediocre metaphor does deal with the issue I’m going to talk about, Videogame Movies. By this I of course mean movies based on a video game/video game series, not movies about video games. I should probably mention now that while I am a big fan of both movies and video games, I am not a fan of Videogame Movies. Now if one notices, this article may seem rather outdated since no Videogame Movie was released recently in the past week or two (assuming this goes up when I think it does), and as such one will wonder why I’m talking about Videogame Movies now instead of later. Well, this has been on my mind ever since I heard the announcement that a Shadow of the Colossus movie was in the works. For those that don’t know what Shadow of the Colossus is and you happen to own a PS3 or even a PS2, I suggest that you go get the game yourself, skip the rest of this paragraph, and enjoy a great game that you should be ashamed for not knowing. For anyone who doesn’t own these systems or doesn’t play video games at all, Shadow of the Colossus is an old PS2 title that has you the player play as a lone man who travels the countryside, destroying sixteen large colossi, all so you can bring an un-named girl back to life. Now as a game this may seem a little underwhelming, but trust me when I say that it is actually one of the best titles for the system to date, but as a movie idea it seems like it would work, except to me that is. Now it does make me excited to see that a good game is recognized enough that someone wants to make a movie out of it, but at the same time I can see why it won’t do so good. I’ll get into why a little bit later, but it all goes back to the Reese’s analogy I used earlier. Is the reason why video games and movies don’t work so well is because the two just aren’t compatible, or is it compatible, but no one has perfected the formula yet? This further led me to the main reasons why Videogame Movies of the past haven’t worked, so without further ado…

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Upon the release of the trailer for the new Green Hornet film (Directed by Michael Gondry) I have heard mixed reviews from fans and non-fans a like. The most common criticism seems to be the idea that Seth Rogen, known for his comedic roles, won’t be apply to portray the character of Britt Reid, and the very fact that there is comedic bits ruins the movie. I say bring it on. The Green Hornet series was made so long ago and the idea of it being remade into something different is actually smart. The Green Hornet series is appreciated by a certain bunch but almost unknown to the general public. Having watched multiple re-runs of The Green Hornet I personally think that the fact that Seth Rogen is portraying the title character is actually genius. Judging from the trailer, I welcome this remake/reboot/re-whatever. The Green Hornet is set for release on January 14th, 2011. Down below is the trailer.

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808411967/trailer