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!

Stuff That I Saw - Iron Man 2

Note: This review will contain some slight spoilers, but nothing too bad.  You'll probably be able to see the plot coming from a mile away anyways.

Back in 2008, the first Iron Man film kicked off a summer filled with great comic book movies.  The film wasn't particularly smart, and it wasn't perfect - the villain was somewhat weak, and the final fight scene was pretty lame - but it managed to be an extremely enjoyable time at the theater, with great special effects, a cast with loads of chemistry, and a witty, fast-paced script. After making tons of cash at the box office and being overwhelmingly well-received by critics, everyone knew there would be a sequel, but does it carry the same appeal as the first? Find out after the jump.

 Mickey Rourke as Whiplash (though they never actually call him that).

Iron Man 2 picks up basically right where the first movie ended - Tony Stark has made public knowledge of the fact that he is Iron Man, and the United States government is now trying to seize the suit to be used as a government weapon. Meanwhile, Stark is being poisoned by the material in his arc reactor, which both powers the Iron Man suit and keeps the shrapnel in his body from reaching his heart and killing him. Meanwhile, Ivan Vanko, the son of a business associate of Stark's father (Howard Stark), is plotting revenge on Tony for Howard screwing over Ivan's father back in the day. Meanwhile, Justin Hammer, a rival weapons dealer, is attempting to build his own version of the Iron Man suit for mass military consumption. Meanwhile, Tony is being watched very closely by S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury's somewhat secret militant organization, to see if he is fit to join the "Avengers Initiative".

So, as you can see from the above paragraph, there's quite a lot of plot threads happening at once. Iron Man 2 is a movie that has a lot of responsibility - it has the dual task of being the first movie which really starts to lead up to the upcoming Avengers movie, as well as having to support it's own canon and lead up to it's inevitable next sequel. The movie mostly does a good job of keeping all the balls in the air, but it's somewhat unfocused, which is a bit of a shame as the first film was pretty damn tight in terms of pacing. Part of the problem (and this happens with a lot of comic book sequels) is that there's no more origin story to rely on. This means that it's a bit more difficult on the writer's part to come up with new and exciting situations for the character, because that initial learning curve for the character is lost. Overall, I thought the movie did a pretty solid job of keeping everything together, but I'm a comic book fan; for someone who doesn't know about The Avengers film, or doesn't even know who The Avengers are, I'd imagine the film would seem rather bloated. We're not talking Spider-Man 3 levels here, but there's a few too many THINGS happening at once, and it doesn't always pay off.

Everyone from the first film is just as great here as they were then - Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow have a lot of chemistry as Tony Stark and his assistant, Pepper Potts, and I liked that Jon Favreau gave his character a bigger part in this movie (he's the director, in case you didn't know, but also plays Happy Hogan). Don Cheadle replaces Terrence Howard as James Rhodes, and fits right in with the returning cast. In terms of the newcomers, Sam Rockwell does a great job as the weasel-y Justin Hammer; Scarlett Johansson doesn't have much to work with as Natasha Romanoff (AKA Black Widow) but she's just fine despite her lack of a Russian accent (better than having a bad accent I suppose); Samuel L. Jackson is okay as Nick Fury, but he's pretty obviously just playing himself and not the actual character; and Mickey Rourke, despite overacting a bit, particularly in the beginning of the movie, does a good job as the sinister Ivan Vanko.

OF COURSE I CAN'T STOP YELLING, 'CUZ THAT'S HOW I TALK!!

I actually want to talk about Ivan Vanko a little bit, because one of the sacrifices made to get all that plot into the film was character development on the part of some of the new faces (though the movie actually does a good job of expanding the characters of the returning cast, most notably - and importantly - Tony).  Ivan Vanko is touted as the main villain of Iron Man 2, but he's not really on-screen all that much, and while he hints at having a bit of depth, he never really does more than that; he's also a little bit TOO ridiculous, being a dude who clearly knows his way in a fistfight AND a brilliant scientist. It's just a bit too much to swallow, even from a comic book movie. The Whiplash in this movie is sort of a mash-up of the comic book Whiplash and Crimson Dynamo, another big Iron Man villain, and this generally works out pretty well. He fares better than Iron Monger from the first film, but I was really disappointed with his action scenes. He only gets two in the whole movie, and they're both extremely short and feature him getting beaten way too easily.

Ah, those action scenes though. I'll admit, none of them have that same exhilarating, fresh feeling as in the first movie - again, one of the problems with not having an origin story - but aside from the really weak Whiplash scenes, they're pretty well done. I won't ruin too much, but I will say that the last fight was, shamefully, just as weak as in the first movie. Overall though, there's some pretty cool stuff here.

Look, Iron Man 2 is not The Dark Knight; but then, the movie never really tries to be anything other than an entertaining summer popcorn flick. At the end of the day, is it as good, as fun, or as exciting as the first one? No, it's not. It's bloated whereas the first one was tightly-paced, it's a bit cheesy whereas the first one was able to be undeniably cool; it's big, it's dumb, and it's predictable in the most Hollywood way possible. But it still nails the characters, serves up some solid action scenes, and throws in some great chemistry between its cast. If you hated the first Iron Man, this won't change your mind; if you liked the first one, you'll PROBABLY like this one.  Me? I dug it, but I've got to admit that I walked away from the theater feeling just a little bit hollow.

Stuff That I Liked:
- Well done translation of the characters from the comic
- Snappy, rapid-fire dialogue
- Good performances by most of the cast
- Returning characters are expanded upon from the first film
- Some pretty sweet action scenes
- Doesn't try to be anything it's not
- The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 of the series -  not as well done as the first, goofier and harder to take seriously, but still fun.


Stuff That I Didn't:
- Lacks the freshness of the first film
- Tries to do too many things at once, sacrificing new character development and pacing
- Extremely predictable story structure, sometimes relying on some weird Deus Ex Machina-type stuff.
- Lacks narrative tension
- Some shots that are just plain cheesy
- Introduction of lead-up threads to Avengers movie could turn off non-comic book fans
- Whiplash is kind of a pussy

Stuff That I Saw: Kick-Ass

Note: This review should be basically spoiler-free. You’ll get the usual spoilers you would get from any average movie review, but you’re basically safe, so read away!.

Screw 2008’s Dark Knight-Hellboy 2-Iron Man triumvirate of great comic book films; THIS year is truly the year of great comic adaptations. Between Kick-Ass, and the upcoming films The Losers, Iron Man 2, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Jonah Hex, and (maybe) Green Hornet, this is one amazing year to be a movie-going comic fan.  Kick-Ass is the first comic book film of the year, and if every other one released is as good, we’ve got a mighty fine year of entertainment ahead of us.

Kick-Ass, directed by Matthew Vaughn and adapted from the comic of the same name by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr., follows the exploits of Dave Lizewski, a comic book geek and chronic masturbator. After being mugged numerous times, Dave begins to ponder why no one in the real world has ever tried to be a superhero before, and decides to take on the mantel himself, ordering a scuba suit online and naming himself Kick-Ass. After a Youtube video of him beating up some thugs is seen on the news, Kick-Ass grows in fame, soon becoming an absolute craze. What follows is an action-packed adventure as Kick-Ass and his companions, Big Daddy, Hit Girl, and Red Mist, attempt to take down the mafia.

What makes Kick-Ass unique is its degree of somewhat-realism, at least within the “origin” part of the tale. Basically, on Kick-Ass’s first patrol through town, he gets beaten, stabbed, and run over by a car, which is totally what would happen to a naive, comic-obsessed teenager with no training who attempts to fight crime.  This is not a movie to take kids to, in case the R rating didn't give you enough warning.  It's rife with foul language, and some REALLY brutally violent scenes - heads explode, limbs are cut off, and people are tortured and beaten.  If this kind of stuff isn't exactly your bag, don't see this movie.

Among other things, Kick-Ass has a seriously stupendous cast. Aaron Johnson does a great job as Kick-Ass – it’s a pretty demanding role, as the character has to be likable, despite being, well, kind of an idiot, and Johnson does the job extremely well. Christopher Mintz-Plasse is given a lot more to do here with Red Mist than his “eccentric loser” roles in the past. It helps that Red Mist is a better-developed character here than in the comic (and that his motivations are clear from the beginning, as opposed to the comic where Red Mist working for the mafia is a big reveal moment), but Mintz-Plasse still carries an emotional subtlety to a character who could have otherwise become an unlikable asshole.

I’ve had a pretty anti-Nicholas Cage stance for the past few years, but recently I’ve begun to think that it’s just because I haven’t seen any of his good movies – I mean, the guy’s gotta be such a sought-after actor for a reason, right? After Kick-Ass I can say that this assumption was correct, because Cage is great in this movie. Out of costume, he’s a pretty typical dad character (well, as typical as a dad who’s trained his 11 year old daughter to be a proficient killing machine can be, but ya know…), but in costume, he (in reference to the old Batman TV show) speaks in short, disjointed, Adam West-like sentences. It had me in stitches every time, and if you catch what he’s doing, you will be too. I actually came from the movie wishing that there were more scenes with Big Daddy in them.

Of course, the star of the show here is Chloe Grace Moretz as Hit Girl. If you’ve seen any promotional material for the film, you know the character’s shtick. She’s a foul-mouthed 11-year-old girl who has been trained to be a stone-cold killer. She is where much of the movie’s controversy comes from, and the character who is bound to make audiences who aren’t into this sort of thing the most uncomfortable. She’s also fucking awesome. Her action scenes are pulse pounding, brilliantly shot affairs, and Moretz is extremely confident in the role. Some could see her character as controversy for controversy’s sake, but she’s a very unique creation, and one that could really only come from Mark Millar’s twisted mind. There’s a real undercurrent of creepiness in Big Daddy and Hit Girl’s relationship, and it helps give the movie a more sinister tone.

Matthew Vaughn makes the movie work because he truly makes the source material his own.  The film reminded me of the Fight Club movie - it remains very faithful to the original comic, while also deviating quite a bit from it, especially within the last half. This really gives the movie it’s own identity and allows it to stand up as its own self-contained work, as opposed to some other, more direct comic book adaptations (coughWatchmencough). What ends up happening is that the movie is lighter, dumber, and more Hollywood than the comic, but has a more consistent tone. While the comic attempted to balance social commentary with adolescent violence (with varying levels of success), the film pretty much just stresses the adolescent violence – Hit Girl and Big Daddy’s relationship is noticeably toned down (with Big Daddy’s motivations being changed pretty drastically), and some of the moral issues raised by the character’s actions in the comic aren’t addressed at all in the film. Again though, it works. It also helps that Vaughn’s direction is fantastic – the action is extremely intense, and stylistically the movie is quite stunning, especially during Big Daddy’s origin story, which mixes traditional animation with cel-shading to create the illusion of a moving comic book. Really neat stuff here.

Quite frankly, you should know if you’re the kind of person who would enjoy Kick-Ass. All you have to do is ask yourself one simple question: is an R-rated movie titled Kick-Ass going to tickle your fancy? If you turned away in disgust at the movie’s title, then you should move right along, because there really isn’t anything for you here. But if you’re the sort of person who has read and enjoyed the comic, or feel like you WOULD enjoy a film with such an abrasive title, then sit back, relax, and revel in the gratuitous violence, fantastic cast, and fast-paced, witty dialogue of Kick-Ass; I know I did.

Stuff That I Played: Heavy Rain

SPOILER-FREE, so don't worry about reading.

A friend of mine recently was kind enough to lend me his PS3 because he has to study for exams, so I'm finally able to play through some of my most anticipated games on the console. This is gonna be pretty quick because frankly, it's hard to judge Heavy Rain in relation to other games because it's so unique.

Heavy Rain isn't really a "game" per se. It's more of an interactive movie; I suppose it's sort of like if you were able to say "DON"T GO THROUGH THAT DOOR!" during a horror movie and that character actually listened. The game is extremely immersive as you control the most basic of actions; the first hour or so of the game basically just has you go through one of the main characters' morning routine, getting dressed, brushing his teeth, eating, etc. Some would find this boring but due to the interesting control scheme and overall uniqueness of the game, it really worked for me.

Most of Heavy Rain is played using a variety of quicktime events. For those who don't know, what happens here is that you don't control the entire character; rather, a cinematic plays, and button prompts are put up on the screen. If you press the button in the the required, you "Win" the action; this keeps going in a particular sequence. For example, you control Guy A in a fight. Guy B takes a swing; the screen flashes X. If you press X in time, you dodge; otherwise you get smacked in the face. The fight resumes in this fashion. Quicktime events have been fairly criticized over the years as being a little bit lazy, but they can be used to good effect (see: the God of War games), and in Heavy Rain this is true. All of the "action" scenes play out in extremely intense quicktime events, using the face and shoulder buttons, as well as the movement of the Sixaxis controller - while I'm not a big fan of motion controls, the Sixaxis is superbly implemented, making the sequences more nerve-wracking(as you have more button choices to worry about) and greater simulating the action of, say, driving a car. What's most impressive about these parts is how smooth they are - you'll never see a "game over" screen in the game; if you mess up a quicktime event really badly, there's the possibility that main characters will die, or certain plot points unfold differently. In this way, the game brings a sense of immediacy to the proceedings, and stresses the importance of split-second actions and decisions; it really keeps you on your toes.

The game follows four characters who all have some sort of relation to a recent child murderer dubbed the Origami Killer (due to the origami figures he/she leaves in his/her victims' hands). Paths intersect and plotlines twist as each of the characters search for the Origami Killer for their own reasons and in their own ways.

The plot is extremely involving even from the start of the game; again, it comes down to immersion and feeling like you are mostly in control of events. There's a certain thrill you get from watching these characters and controlling their every move, like some sort of virtual puppeteer. At times, despite my own personal feelings, it reached a point where I was making decisions based on what I thought the characters would do, rather than my own personal wants (I should have a post tomorrow or tonight pertaining to this, but it will contain spoilers, so read at your own risk). It's a powerful, engrossing game, with some extremely moving scenes and great writing. My only problems in this respect are that side characters are largely one-dimensional and not written as well, and the fact that the script uses a lot of movie cliches. However, this almost works in the game's favour; because it's so influenced by film and uses a lot of Hollywood cliches (In particular regarding to the archetypal main characters), it truly works as an 8 hour movie that you CONTROL. I felt that the length of the game was absolutely perfect, keeping the plot moving at a brisk pace and containing only a couple filler scenes - I blew through the game in about 3 extended sittings, and most others probably will too.

I only have a couple of problems with the game. First off, the movement controls are clunky, using an old Resident Evil-type control system where you press a button to walk and use the analog sticks to just point in whatever direction you face. You get used to it, but I don't understand why they couldn't just make a regular old 3D movement system. My other problem is that it's not until halfway through the game that your choices really begin to affect what happens; for the first half, though you still control the characters actions, most scenes will end with the same outcome, regardless of the details of the scene. Also, the graphics are pretty, but side characters have noticeably less detail than the main characters, mostly in regards to facial expressions, and they still haven't been able to nail a realistic-looking kiss in games; kisses tend to look like the characters' faces are just floating in front of each other with open mouths. It's a weird effect and pulls you out of the game momentarily.  Finally, while the voice acting is generally top-notch all around, children sound uniformly strange; most of them have this weird accent that makes them sound kind of like they're mentally-challenged, to the point where I couldn't quite decide whether Jason (one of the main protagonist's sons) was in fact mentally handicapped or not - it certainly wouldn't be too much of a stretch considering his actions (you'll understand once you play the game).

Overall though, Heavy Rain is an engrossing thrill ride of a game, and one that is incredibly unique. Whether it will be groundbreaking or not remains to be seen - I'm curious to see whether the game will form a whole new genre, or even influence other games majorly; I also wonder how well a game like this will sell; in its first week it sold over half a million copies, so I guess it's doing just fine (stat taken from IGN.com). So, the scorecard:

Play this game if:
-You liked Shenmue (seriously, if you liked that whole day-to-day minutia sort of thing, which I did, you'll totally dig this game. Shenmue was also the first game to popularize quicktime events, so hah!)
-You like movies (particularly movies that deal with more mature subject matter)
-You want a totally unique gameplay experience
-You are a casual or hardcore videogame player; I say this because the controls are unique enough that I think even if not accustomed with games, anyone should be able to get some enjoyment out of it. In fact, before the game starts, it asks you for a difficulty setting, based on how much you play games and how familiar you are with the controller. I'm not sure what this does, but I assume it affects how big the window for doing quicktime events is.

Don't play this game if:
-You are bored easily
-You need a lot of gameplay depth to get into a game
-You just want to shoot stuff

Later days,
Daniel

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!