Scott Pilgrim vs the World: 100th Review/ CR: 41

Well, here I am, my 100th review, the review to end all reviews. Who'da thought that? But how did I come to do this, you might say, and who are these strange side projects that surround my reviews, now you also say. Well it's a long story, come closer, and I'll tell you. It all started, two years ago, what a day that was. It's what I call, a bad fur day...wait, that's not it. That doesn't even make sense. Oh well, clever reference failed.

Yes! this is my 100th review! I honestly never thought I'd reach this point, until I made it to my 50th review and started slowly planning this one. Hopefully these plans are good ones and won't turn out terrible. But what am I reviewing today? Why, it's 1 of my 2 favorite films of all time, which I teased yesterday. This is my review of the spectacular...

 

PLOT

Set in the strange and mysterious land of Toronto, Canada, our film follows 23 year old Scott Pilgrim who's dating a 17 year old high schooler. One day, Scott sees the girl of his dreams, literally, he's been seeing her in his dreams for the past few days. Her name is Romona Flowers and she seems like the perfect girl for Scott. There's a catch though, before they can continue dating, Scott must defeat her seven evil-exes in a battle to the death. Can Scott survive this task, or is Ramona even worth the effort? 

PROS

Like all other Edgar Wright films, this one is filled to the brim with his signature style of fast editing and quick humor. I personally love this style and it's shown in full force in this film.

This film is one of the best adaptations of a property, in this case turning a comic book into a movie. While it doesn't follow the book up to a certain point, what it does do seems like stuff that would happen in the comic and remains in the spirit of the property. Even they remove stuff, it makes sense and finds something else to make up for it.

Watching this movie is like watching a living comic. By that I mean the movie uses visual representations of onomatopoeia. For example, when someone gets hit, the word "Pow" pops around that person. It only gets better from there and it allows the film to recreate panels from the comic to a tee.

The film is extremely funny and has the Edgar Wright signature fast paced comedy. There are literally different types of jokes being thrown at you every second. This makes the movie infinitely re-watchable since you find something new each time you watch it.

The action scenes are phenomenal and a ton of fun to watch. They're very fasted paced and shot perfectly, not allowing you to miss any of the action. The fight choreography is also great and really make these scenes.

I've been praising the presentation so much that I almost forgot about the actors, which are also great. All of the actors are perfectly cast and look just like their characters from the comics. All of them also do a great job at acting in general. There are, in my opinion, no weak links in this cast.

The film's soundtrack is very good and diverse. Even the songs made for the movie are really good.

The evil exes are one of the best parts of the movie. They're all unique and interesting, with new ex being better then the last.

"Scott Pilgrim" runs on video game logic and keeps with this logic throughout the whole movie. It establishes this world and its rules and sticks to them, which was a dream for me since I love video games.

CONS
 At the start of the film, the exes are given very cool and detailed backstories, but as the movie goes along they become less important and less detailed. While this does lead to cool fights and more story with the main characters, it is dissapointing to be left in the dark on some mysterious characters.




CONCLUISION
I'm going to be honest with you guys, I'm extremely biased towards this film. I feel that "Scott Pilgrim" was a huge milestone in my life, in the fact that it was a film that I over hyped to an insane amount and it actually lived up to all of my colossal expectations. I truly adore this film and consider it near perfect, and whatever minor problems I have with it, are completely forgotten when I get caught up in the action and comedy. If you love nerdy things in general, this movie is perfect for you and I will be shocked if you haven't at least had interest in seeing this movie.

RATING
CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT!!      

My Top 10 Favorite Films

As you may or may not have noticed, my next review will be my 100th review. In celebration of this, I'm going to present my top 10 favorite movies of all time, or at least at this moment. There's still a lot I haven't seen that are likely contenders. Just let it be known that these are my favorite films at this time and is subject to change. Also, None of these films, except for number 1, are in any particular order, these are just 10 movies that I think are the best. All right let's get on with it by beginning with...

#10



If you know me at all, you know that I adore Edgar Wright and his Blood and Ice Cream trilogy, those being this, Hot Fuzz, and the upcoming The World's End. When having to chose between this and Hot Fuzz, I decided that I enjoy Shaun better simply because I think it's slightly funnier. I think it has to do with the fact that I know more about the zombie/horror genre then action buddy-cop films. What makes this film so funny is that it's throwing jokes at you every half second and it throws different types of jokes at you. This makes the film infinitely rewatchable and even funnier the next time you see it. I might be going over the same points that I did in my review, but hey, that doesn't mean it isn't right.

Here's a link to my review: http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/#!/2013/05/shaun-of-dead-cr-35.html

#9

"Attack the Block" is a film that when I first saw it, I didn't review it honestly. I was so hyped for this movie that when I saw it, I was genuinely dissapointed. The why is it on this list? Well, after seeing it multiple times with multiple different people, I've come to the conclusion that this film is as great as I thought it was going to be. It does the impossible and makes you love characters that you hate at first. It also has great gore and acting from unknown and first-time actors. Overall, I love this film and I gurantee most people will too.

Here's a link to the review: http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/#!/2011/11/attack-block-cr-12.html

                                     #8

This movie is perfect for anyone who wants to get into the film industry in any way. It's all about the love of film and the love of making a film. It's all about a young man who understands what a good movie is, but he just can't make a decent movie to save his life, and there's something really endering about that. The performances are great, the recreations of Ed Wood's movies are great, and Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi is spectacular and haunting at points. This is a great and criminally overlooked film.

Here's a link to the review: http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/#!/2011/09/ed-wood-cr-8.html

                                        #7

                                                                                   

Intresting story about this spot on my list, I knew I wanted either Up or this film on this list, but I couldn't have both. After thinking about it long enough, I decided that I enjoyed Spirtied Away slightly more then Up. Spirited Away was the first Miyazaki movie I saw that really affected me, that hit me in just the right way. After my first viewing, I watched it three more times just because I loveed it so much. It's so visually rich and has a simple but effective story. The score is amazing, my personal favorite being the song played during the train sequence. My only problem with this movie, well actually it's a problem with Disney, is that they've yet to release this and many other classic Studio Ghibli films on Blu-Ray! Either way. this is still an amazing movie and an experiance I'll never forget.

I have yet to review this movie, key word being "yet".

                                                                               #6





I've discovered recently that I like watching documentaries, but what made me become more open to them was this film. Exit Through the Gift Shop shows you that a documentary can be fun and informational. It's endlessly entertaining with it's main subject Terry, and the situations he gets into. In my opnion, it never feels like a documentary, it feels more like am actual story driven film that happens to follow a real-life exactly as it happened. I also love this movie for introducing me to one of my favorite muscians Richard Hawley. I've seen this film many times and probably will see many more times.

Here's a link to my review: http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/#!/2012/04/exit-through-gift-shop-cr-16.html

                                                                            #5







                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Brutal, hopeful, haertbreaking, funny, and infinitly rewatchable, those are words I would use to describe The Shawshank Redemption. What else can I really say? I've seen it, you've seen, we've all seen it and loved it. It's one of those films that was almost completely overlooked when it came out, and just like Fight Club or The Wizard of Oz, it was saved by rentals and tv play. It's a spectacular film that I will alsways love.

Here's a link to my review:http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/#!/2012/06/summer-of-101-movies-100-shawshank.html

                                                                             #4

 

I'd always heard of the Evil Dead films and how amazing they were. I'd been dying to see this particular entry and when I finally did, I knew why people love this movie. It's funny, crazy, creative, and can be pretty scary at times. I've seen this movie at least 10 times and it never gets old. If you love horror and don't mind a lot of gore, why haven't you seen this yet?

Here's a link to my (poorly done) review: http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/#!/2011/06/evil-dead-ii-dead-by-dawn-cr-review.html

#3

When I saw this last year, it came as a complete surprise to me. I was expecting another overrated 4 hour epic from the 60's that would be boring and have like three scenes worth watching. Luckily, it was so much more then that. The story of T.E. Lawerence is so intriging and this film doesn't lose any of that intrige. While it is almost 4 hours long, it earns the right to be long and has few filler in it. I adore this film and if you have the time, I bet you will too.

Here's a link to my review: http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/#!/2012/08/summer-of-movies-5-lawrence-of-arabia.html

#2

A truly emotional experiance, "American Beauty" is another one that hit me in just the right way. Every character is deep and has multiple sides to them, everyone gives an amazing performance, and it was one of the first times I discovered the subtext and metaphor of a film on my own. It's a very important movie in my life and I don't think I will ever forget it.

Here is a link to my review: http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/#!/2012/06/summer-of-101-movies-98-american-beauty.html

#1

This is one of the only movies that I at one time watched on a daily basis, why? I honestly don't have a clue. Maybe it's the endering and deep characters, maybe it's the playful, clever writing, maybe I'm just weird and like weird stuff. Either way, I simply love "Mary and Max" and I recommend it to anyone who will listen. If you've yet to see this masterpiece, you owe yourself a good experiance and should see this right now.

Here's a link to my review: http://newandclassicreviews.blogspot.com/#!/2012/07/mary-max-50th-review-special-cr-22.html

But wait! I have two films at number, but what is it? Find out later today, for my 100th review, I'm going to review my other number 1 favorite film. Here's a hint.

Pacific Rim: NR #47

Well, the time has finally come, one of the most anticipated movies of the summer, at least in nerdier circles, has released. Does it live up to the hype, or has Guillermo del Toro gotten too big for his britches? Let's find out in my review of...

PLOT
In the not-so distant future, a hole opens in the Pacific Ocean releasing giant monsters (called Kaiju) that obliterate most coastal cities. After many attacks, the human race combines its resources to build giant robots (called Jaegers) piloted by two people to fight these monsters. We begin to win the war, until the monsters become stronger with each one that's released. Our story follows Raleigh Becket, a pilot who lost his co-pilot and brother in an attack and hasn't been in combat for 5 years. He's brought back in to help with an operation where they plan on firing a bomb into the hole to finally close it. Becket teams up with rookie Mako Mori to fight back these beasts and hopefully win this war.


PROS
The special effects, specifically for the Jaegers, are spectacuilar. They're simply amazing and are a marvel when you first see them in action, I literally had chills down my spine when the first Jaeger showed up.

The fight scenes, while far into the movie, are jaw-dropping and awesome. Every punch and hit are cringe worthy and it's a ton of fun just to see these robots fight monsters to the death. There were tons of moments where I just wanted to jump out of my seat and yell "HELL YEAH!!!"

The score sounds very close to something you'd hear in a Japanese monster movie, which this film is an obvious homage to. It only adds to the fun of the fight scenes.

Idris Elba plays the head of this operation and does a great job at it. While he does have bad lines and his character isn't that interesting, Elba is just such a great actor that he pulls this off and becomes the best human character in the film.

Charlie Day and Ron Perlman are not in the movie too often, but they're great together and bring some great comedic moments to the slower, dramatic parts.

The world and Jaegers and very well developed and have a lot of little details added to them. It's much more fleshed out then you'd think it would be and it comes as a welcome surprise.



CONS
Anything involving the main human characters is extremely cliched and uninteresting. We just don't care about these people, and we spend over an hour with them, just waiting for the next fight. Their stories and characterization are just so overplayed it's hard to care about them.

The Kaiju, while cool at first, but they start to all look the same by the end. It's not a huge deal since we just want to see them get beat to a gooey pulp, but they could have used some creativity for the Kaiju.


CONCLUSION
"Pacific Rim" is not a perfect film, in fact in may not even be a great movie. The human characters and scenes take up way too much of the film and are just boring. But, when it finally gets to the fights, it's magic. I felt like a little kid watching his favorite wrestler in a fight; yelling, screaming, jumping for joy. The Jaeger fights are a spectacle made for the big screen and are totally worth waiting through the human storyline.


RATING
RUN TO

Despicable Me 2: NR #46

Happy 4th of July everybody! While it is July the 7th at the time of writing this, I still feel the need to celebrate this American holiday by going to the movies. Sadly this year, we didn't get the best choices for big summer movies. This week's film is a sequel to a movie I felt was good, but not good enough to become a phenomenon like it did. Does this film improve of it's predecessor, or does it only go downhill from here. This is my review of...

PLOT
After the end of the last film where Gru renounced his evil ways and became a father of three daughters, he continues this life style and now uses his giant lab and minions to create a jelly business. One day, Gru is called in by the Anti-Villain League to track down a villain who's stolen a chemical that turns any creature into a monstrous purple beast. Gru now has to track down this villain with his new partner Lucy, who may soon become more than just a partner.



PROS
The minions, just like last time, are the best part of the film. All do they do is crazy stuff that always made me laugh, and that's good enough for me.

I really enjoyed the back story of the villain El Macho, I won't go into details, but let's just say it goes to some ridiculous and hilarious places.



CONS
While the minions are funny, nothing else in the film really is. It's mostly tired or easy jokes that are made for the smallest of children. While I did chuckle here and there, some of it was just painful.

The movie's plot is all over the place. It can never focus on one thing for too long and seems lost at points.

The animation isn't too spectacular. While it wasn't bad per say, it wasn't anything special either, and i feel that could've been something that could've made this movie less bland.



CONCLUSION
I really thought I had more to say about this film, but it really is just bland. It's not bad or even offensive, it's just very forgettable, which is how I felt about the first film. If you really enjoyed the first "Despicable Me", then you'll most likely really enjoy this one too. If you're like me and didn't really care for the last one, then this is just more of the same, and even done kinda worse.


RATING
RENTABLE