Author: Alton Williams

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World *****

If you’ve seen the poster, the trailer or any of the TV spots for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World you will be fully aware that it is “From the director of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz” and based on this very simply statement you just know that you can expect a movie that wreaks pure awesomeness. Described as “An epic of epic epicness” (try saying that over and over really quickly, I dare you), Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is a film aimed squarely at the geek within everyone one of us and, thanks for successful movies like Kick-Ass and TV shows like The Big Bang Theory, geek culture is really starting to go mainstream, everything that is awesome about geekiness being embraced by more and more people. For those of you not in know yet, however, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World finds its inspirations in a series of graphic novels, released the under the more general title of Scott Pilgrim (the film takes its full name from the second volume in the series), by Bryan Lee O’Malley, a series that both provides a fresh twist on the age old formula of boy-meets-girl and provides a unique and original blend of videogame culture, indie style, fan boy references and manga-esque imagery. And I highly doubt that a much better person could have been found to adapt the graphic novel series into a movie than Edgar Wright, his past films ‘Shaun of the Dead’ and Hot Fuzz, not to mention his television series Spaced showing that he is a director quite like no other, with a unique approach to comedies, one that combines a distinct sense of Britishness (they were British comedies after all, even though Scott Pilgrim blatantly isn’t) with his inner geek. This approach here proves to be a work of unabashed genius, as this film doesn’t merely promise awesomeness, it fully delivers it.

Charmingly nerdy slacker Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is the bass player in band Sex Bob-Omb whose members also include ‘ the talent’ Stephen Stills (Mark Webber) and sarcastic drummer/ex-girlfriend Kim Pine (Allison Pill), and whose rehearsals are frequently attended by Young Neil (Johnny Simmons), a videogame player who lives in the house where they rehearse. Scott has never been lucky in love, having been horrifically dumped by ex-girlfriend Envy Adams (Brie Larson) and now lives a somewhat aimless life, sharing a tiny apartment with gay roommate Wallace Wells (Kieran Culkin) and having a ‘fake’ relationship with high school girl Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). Everything is about to change for Scott, however. When Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) rollerblades into his world, Scott believes he’s met the girl of his dreams. However, he quickly finds there’s a big and totally unexpected problem – Ramona’s seven evil exes – The League of Evil Exes –control her love life and will do whatever it takes to eliminate him as a suitor. As Scott gets closer to Ramona, he must face an increasingly vicious rogues’ gallery from her past – Matthew Patel (Satya Bhabha), Ramona’s 7th grade boyfriend who has mystical powers; Lucas Lee (Chris Evans), a skateboarding action movie star with an army of body doubles at his disposal; Todd Ingram (Brandon Routh), a dim-witted ‘vegan’ rock star with psychic and telekinetic powers; Roxy Richter (Mae Whitman), a lesbian ex-girlfriend from a ‘phase’ who has ninja-like abilities; Kyle (Keita Saitou) and Ken Katayanagi (Shotu Saito), a twin brother band whose weapon of choice is their music; and finally Gideon Graves (Jason Schwartzman), a super powerful record producer who has quite a big influence over Ramona. And if he hopes to win his true love, Scott must vanquish them all before it really is ‘game over’.

From the moment the studio ident appears on the screen at the start of the film – the Universal logo is presented in 8 bit style with the studio’s trademark theme presented in the style of old fashioned videogame music – Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is unashamedly a movie for geeks and in this regard it never disappoints. Almost like a comic book or videogame come to life, this is a film that is sure to satisfy its geek target audience in pretty much every respect. About as in your face as a geek movie could possibly get, the film quite literally throws its videogame and comic book inspirations at the audience, retro and geek references being thrown all over the place, with lots of subtle details that only the most observant of viewers will pick up on and more obvious homages that everyone will appreciate. Raised on a diet of videogames and indie rock music, Scott Pilgrim has a distinctive and unique view of the world, one that is packed full of neon imagery, gaming icons, sounds being displayed in word form in giant comic book style letters and ‘game overs’. It is his view of the world that we see up on the screen, him living his life almost as though it is a videogame, with even mundane tasks such as having a pee coming with their own videogame style power gauge. This particular view of the world gives us a unique insight into the character of Scott Pilgrim and this allows us to appreciate exactly how he functions in the world and perceives what is going around him, emotion being presented in a completely new way, one that won’t be instantly recognisable to everyone but that many a geek should be able to hold some level of understanding towards. Suffice to say, character development is very well done here but not in any way you are used to seeing, Edgar Wright actually doing something that is very rare in mainstream movies nowadays – portray a familiar concept in a way that we have never seen it portrayed before. In the wrong hands this videogame style look and feel could very well have looked cheap and tacky but in the masterful hands of Wright is works superbly. Best described as a romantic beat’em up, the action sequences on display here have a distinctly beat’em up videogame look, feel and sound to them and they don’t just prove to be exciting but also very funny – the film as a whole being totally hilarious and doing so without ever resorting to lame gags or making fun – not to mention boasting trippy visuals that are as vibrant and colourful as Ramona Flower’s constantly changing hair. This film really is as much a piece of art as it is a piece of entertainment, the always dazzling and sometimes enchanting visuals both providing a real feast for the eyes and capturing the manga style essence of the source material perfectly – in fact, there is even a manga style hand drawn animation sequence. The editing offers as much to shout about as the effects too, with the way one scene flows into the next with natural ease being masterful and giving the film a feeling of moving from one comic book panel to another. There is also some superbly surreal imagery as well, which boasts fantastic cinematography. Of course, I called this film a romantic beat’em up and the film is just as romantic as it is exciting, funny or visually dazzling, the relationship that forms between Scott and Ramona being really sweet and heart-warming while also reflecting real life relationships to some extent – the threat of her exes perhaps some sort of representation of the spectre that a person’s exes might pose over their relationships in real life – something that gives the film an additional resonance, beyond just being a geek film. The writing in general is really quite superb, with Wright not only offering up an excellent and refreshing slant on character development but also serving up very funny dialogue and a storyline that ensures there is heart to go along the visuals and that the film is not just a CGI drenched mess. The success of the film, however, isn’t entirely attributable to Wright, of course. The performances on display here are almost unanimously excellent. Michael Cera, while perhaps not the fan favourite to play the part – due to the fact that, while he has perfect comic timing, he tends to be typecast as the sensitive slacker type, with many of his roles to date being very samey and not giving him much opportunity to really act beyond the confines of that particular character archetype, this year’s Youth in Revolt aside – actually proves very successful for the most part, displaying not only his usual comic timing but something more, the role of Scott Pilgrim really pushing him a bit further than he has been pushed before. His performance isn’t completely 100% perfect – to the untrained eye he may seem exactly the same as in every other film he has been in – but look closely and you will see lots of idiosyncrasies in his performance that set it apart from other roles he has played. And he does the lovable slacker in a way quite like no one else. He also shares a likable and convincing, if rather unorthodox romantic chemistry, with co-star Mary Elizabeth Winstead, something that is really quite important as, after all, this is a film with a love story at its heart. Winstead more than holds her own individually as well, there being something almost otherworldly about her performance and her being as strong as she is beautiful in the role. As the other girl in Scott’s life, Ellen Wong is also excellent, starting out quiet and gentle but developing a more out loud personality as the film’s progresses. The Exes all deliver superbly but the real highlights have to be Chris Evans, who is on top form as always, Superman Returns star Brandon Routh , whose presence also makes way for some hilarious, if bizarre, cameo appearances by Thomas Jane and Clifton Collins Jr, Mae Whitman and Jason Schwartzman, who steals the show as the slick and smooth final villain. Also excellent are the perfectly sarcastic Allison Pill as well as Kieran Culkin and Aubrey Plaza (as Stephen’s ex-girlfriend who has a habit of showing up everywhere). If there’s one gripe it is that Anna Kendrick, playing Scott’s sister, doesn’t feature more and that when she does she isn’t given a whole lot to actually do. This is only a minor criticism, though, and one that doesn’t stop Scott Pilgrim vs. The World from being truly awesome in pretty much every way possible. This is a film completely unlike any other that you will see year, and perhaps any other year for that matter. It’s exciting, it looks great, it sounds amazing – with a fantastic indie rock style soundtrack – it is laugh out loud funny and, perhaps most importantly of all, it packs an emotional punch to go with all the (considerable amount of) flash that is on display. Even though box office success might be beyond its grasp (as has been evidenced by its weak performance in the states), this is a film that is destined to be a cult hit. “An epic of epic epicness” indeed.

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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)

Marmaduke **½

From the studio that brought you both Garfield and Alvin and the Chipmunks comes the latest live action talking animal movie based on a beloved creation from the past – Marmaduke. Who is Marmaduke, you’re wondering? Well, in case you’re not familiar with the adventures of loveable Great Dane, Marmaduke is a newspaper comic strip that was created in 1954 by Brad Anderson and Phil Leeming and is still going today, running in 600 newspapers worldwide. Just as with those other aforementioned creations, there is a great amount of affection out there for the source material and clearly a lot of effort has been put into this film, with a lot of big names contributing their voices to canine (and, in one case, feline) characters here. Is the film truly worthy of such talent though? The answer to this probably depends on your age and if you are the right age to fully appreciate the film you likely won’t care about the voice cast anyway.

Clumsy but lovable Great Dane Marmaduke (voiced by Owen Wilson) is about to have his world turned upside down. Marmaduke enjoys his simple life causing unintentional chaos in the Kansas home of the Winslow family – Phil (Lee Pace), Debbie (Judy Greer), Barbara (Caroline Sunshine) and Brian (Finley Jacobsen). When owner Phil lands a marketing job with an organic pet food company in California working for the dog obsessed Don Twombly (William H. Macy), ‘the Duke’ finds himself being air freighted to Orange Country. Desperate to fit in with the cool local pooches, Marmaduke fakes a fight with his feline friend Carlos (voiced by George Lopez). But disaster strikes when he uses his newfound fame to flirt with Jezebel (voiced by Fergie), the girlfriend of pedigree bully Bosco (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland). Soon exposed as a fraud, Marmaduke finds himself frozen out of the Californian doggy scene while, at home, Phil’s work-obsessed behaviour threatens to pull the Winslows apart. Can hapless Marmaduke redeem himself and save the day?

It is reasonable to say that kids will find plenty to enjoy in Marmaduke. The humour is perfectly aimed at younger viewers, often being puerile or juvenile but never crude or inappropriate and among the numerous fart gags, scenes of cats being flung through the air, dogs knocking people to the ground, dogs surfing, dogs dancing and dogs partying California style there are some genuinely funny moments that raise more than a few giggles, perhaps for adults as well as children. That said, though, this is not a film that is a laugh a minute and there aren’t many gags that are likely to generate any really big laughs for anyone but the youngest of viewers. Additionally, this is a film which really wastes the talent it has at its disposal. The impressive voice cast – including, in addition to those aforementioned, Emma Stone, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Steve Coogan, Marlon Wayans, Damon Wayans Jr. and Sam Elliott – is good but doesn’t really contribute all that much given that it is hard to actually recognise many of them, only Owen Wilson really standing out, his voice perfectly bringing the character of Marmaduke to life. As for the actors we actually see, there is even more talent wastage. It’s not that any of the cast members are bad but there is really isn’t a whole lot for them to actually do either. Pushing Daisies star Lee Pace is really capable of so much more than what is on display here and the other cast members fare no better, the likes of William H. Macy and Judy Greer also being wasted in roles that require little of them. Also, a very short cameo appearance by David Walliams just seems weird and pointless. On top of this, the plot is predictable, the dog park=high school scenario equally as obvious and the CG animation occasionally proves rather shoddy. Of course, kids won’t care about any of this and will probably love every minute of it. Parents probably not so much but look on the bright side – it isn’t particularly annoying and it is certainly watchable, just not memorable.

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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)

The Expendables ***

After Predators, The A-Team and The Karate Kid among others, 2010’s obsession with the 80s continues with the release of The Expendables, a film that is perhaps one of the most eagerly anticipated movies of the year, although it seems to be as much due to who is in the film as how the good the film is itself. One of the year’s most ambitious films, mostly for the impressive ensemble cast that has been assembled, this is a film that boasts perhaps the most impressive ensemble of action stars ever seen on the big screen, bringing back legends of the past couple of decades such as Sylvester Stallone (who is the man behind the whole thing, directing, co-writing and assembling the cast), Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke (whose career has seen a major resurgence in recent years), Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis (the latter two only in cameo appearances despite the impression created by many of the trailers and TV spots) and uniting them with more recent action stars such as Jason Statham, Jet Li, wrestler Steve Austin and Ultimate Fighter Randy Couture, not to mention quite a few other recognisable names. Understandably, a tremendous amount of hype has been generated by this line up, one that may not mean much to younger viewers but will be almost like cinematic wish fulfilment to those of the right age to have enjoyed the action movies of the 80s but, with a trailer that has made it look like a generic actioner with little special about it aside from this cast, does the film truly live up to this hype?

Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) leads a tight-knit band of battle-hardened mercenaries including ex-SAS man Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), close-quarters combat master Ying Yang (Jet Li), weapons specialist Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), demolitions expert Toll Road (Randy Couture) and sniper Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren). When the team embark on a mission to overthrow murderous dictator General Gaza (David Zayas), Barney and Christmas meet their contact, local freedom-fighter Sandra (Giselle Itie). They also learn their true enemy is rogue ex-CIA man James Munroe (Eric Roberts) and his henchman Paine (Steve Austin). When things go terribly wrong, Barney and Christmas are forced to leave Sandra behind, essentially giving her a death sentence. Haunted by this failure, Barney convinces the team to go back – to rescue the hostage, finish the job and maybe even save his soul.

Dolph Lundgren has called The Expendables “an old-school, kick-ass action movie where people are fighting with knives and shooting at each other” and this perfectly sums up exactly what the film delivers. Coming entirely from the old school of action moviemaking, this is a movie where the action you see on screen is (mostly – there are a few shots that look as though some CGI may have been involved) all real – the 14 injuries sustained by Stallone while making the film, including breaking a tooth, rupturing his ankle and getting a hairline fracture in his neck that required the insertion of a metal plate, are a testament to this – and the old school look and feel that this gives the film makes the viewing experience a much more intense one than the many effects overloaded blockbusters that we see these days. The resulting action sequences, including an attack by a plane, car chases, shootouts, knife fights, hand to hand combat and lots and lots of explosions, certainly get the testosterone up to a high level. This really is hardcore kind of action movie, one meant for adults rather than younger viewers, with violence that is brutal and often bloody and that has greater impact on many levels because it is all done for real. Certainly the predominantly male target audience should find plenty to enjoy in the action scenes that are on display here. That said, though, the overly excessive action – almost everything gets blown up at some point – isn’t exactly inventive and, while it is indeed enjoyable, it is never mind blowing. Additionally, while the action sequences are well done and the film is in general quite technically proficient, the cinematography and editing both being pretty good, in other areas the film doesn’t deliver nearly as successfully. The plot is pretty thin, offering up few genuine surprises and, while we get brief glimpses of or allusions into the private lives of some of the characters, there is little proper character development. On the bright side, however, the dialogue is quite decent and often pretty humorous and, thanks to performances that are better than you might expect, delivered pretty well. The acting on display isn’t all that great, though, the best performances coming from Mickey Rourke, who has very limited screen time, and the enjoyable cameo appearances by Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger in a scene that is very funny with some very good lines but also very dialogue driven and that may leave some viewers a bit cheated about not getting to see Willis and Schwarzenegger in action mode. Elsewhere, Stallone is fairly strong performer, Dolph Lundgren proves very entertaining as sadistic and borderline crazy Gunner, Giselle Itie is suitably tough as the freedom fighter type and Eric Roberts is a sinister if obvious villain. Many of the other cast members, however, don’t really shine that much, whether it be due to the fact that they seem too similar to roles they have played in other movies or simply don’t have that much to actually do. Of course, no one will really be seeing this film for the acting, they will be seeing it for the action and in this regard the film does mostly deliver, with even the older stars proving that they still have it. That said, however, this is a film aimed at a somewhat specific target audience really and while that target audience will (figuratively and literally) have a blast, others may not see what all the fuss is about. The Expendables is an entertaining viewing experience but it is also quite an expendable one.

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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)