Stuff That I Saw: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World Trailer #2

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Having just read up to the SUPERB fifth volume of Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim series and seeing this more-revealing trailer for the film adaptation, Scot Pilgrim Vs. The World, I am now even more excited for this movie.  You might remember that I was a little bit skeptical about Michael Cera as the titular Scott Pilgrim - this trailer shows that he's actually got a really good command over the character.  You also see more of Ramona, and her actress, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, looks primed and ready for the part.  There's only two things I'm a little skeptical about - one is that the look of some of the side characters isn't quite as perfect as I would like, most notably Wallace Wells, Scott's gay roommate, who just doesn't seem pretty enough, and Kim Pine, the drummer of his band, who also isn't pretty enough.....on second thought, maybe this is just because the characters are being, ya know, put into live-action instead of a manga-inspired comic book.  Still, the complaint holds for me.   EDIT: Actually, after watching the trailer several times (as I am wont to do with anything related to Scott Pilgrim, movie or otherwise), everyone seems cool.

The second, and larger concern is that they're putting all 6 volumes into one movie.  I'm really worried about this - while there are enough parts from the comic that can be skipped over (such as in the second volume where Scott's friends are teaching the reader how to cook a meal), these sections are part of what added a lot of flavour and personality to the books.  And even without them, that's a LOT of stuff to put into one movie.  I don't know what the runtime for the film is supposed to be, but I don't see how they could do it justice with any less than two and a half hours, and considering that this is a film adaptation of an indie comic by a just-moderately-successful (in North America) director and containing only one really heavy-hitter star, I find it hard to believe that the studio would allow it to be so long.  I'd love to be proven wrong, though.

That's basically it for me.  The 6th and final volume of Scott Pilgrim will be released July 20th.  Read the series!  It's excellent!

STIL Quickie: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Howdy y'all! The first trailer for the Scott Pilgrim movie (entitled Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) just got released, so I thought I'd just write out some quick thoughts about it.



I picked up the first volume of Scott Pilgrim a little while back on a whim and fell in love instantly; it's one of the most unique series I've ever read, perfectly mixing extremely strong characters, absurd comedy, and over-the-top videogame-inspired chaos. So far, I only have the first two volumes, but I'm looking to get more. The gist of the series is that Scott Pilgrim is a normal dude; he doesn't have any outstanding character traits (though he's apparently an awesome fighter), and is kind of a loser - but there's something about him that's inherently cool. He eventually meets a girl named Ramona Flowers who he becomes enamored with; she likes him too, but in order for him to date her, he has to defeat all of her 7 evil ex-boyfriends in battle.

The movie seems to be extremely faithful to the plot and characters; I noticed a lot of shots straight from the comic. It stars Michael Cera as Scott and Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona. I actually really like Michael Cera, but I'm not sold on him as Scott yet; in the comic, Scott really toes the line between being a total loser and being the coolest guy in the world, and I don't think Cera does that; he just seems to do the awkward, geeky thing. I haven't seen Winstead in anything, but she looks like she'll do a good job as the free-spirited Ramona.

What's really striking about the trailer is how much it takes from the comics; you can see sound effects flash on-screen as the characters hit each other, for example. The film is directed by Edgar Wright, who directed Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, as well as the TV series Spaced; I'm a big fan of his work with Simon Pegg and his crew, so it's interesting to see him do something without their involvement. It looks like the movie contains some really balls-out action scenes, which is exactly what it needs. I'm hoping the strong character work doesn't get lost in the shuffle, but I'm pretty optimistic about it.

Also, I think it's funny that one of the fights is going to be with the actress who played Anne in Arrested Development; somehow it seems Michael Cera always ends up with his Arrested Development cast members in other movies.

Any other thoughts on the trailer? Comment!