Wednesday, November 17, 2010

DRAWING-BOARD STUFF


DIRECTED BY EDGAR WRIGHT
STARRING: MICHAEL CERA, MARY ELIZABETH WINSTEAD, ELLEN WONG, KIERAN CULKIN, ANNA KENDRICK, ALISON PILL, MARK WEBBER, BRANDON ROUTH AND JASON SCHWARTZMANN

Why does a film like ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the world’ deserve a review? I mean, this is a film that’s somewhere between a video game and a comic book (I prefer to use this term, thank you) – it’s actually a comic book about a video game, and where does that leave it on a level of seriousness that could actually provoke even the remotest need to be analyzed critically? Well, it doesn’t, but that’s not the end of the story. There’s still the originality element and the extravagant mood it creates by being what it is and that unavoidably made me to retrospect on its effectiveness as an entertainer.

Pretty effective, in short. Michael Cera stands there being himself with his awkwardly loose muscles that simply can’t get up in the air unless they’re hoisted, and as hilarious and laugh-worthy as that is, he definitely has to come up with something better in the immediate future to 1) break the cliché and 2) to actually get down to doing something. The dumb-cool guy look might suit him, but it’s still tiring. And the additives are enjoyable, this film discusses a girl who actually could inspire ‘like-at-first-sight’, something one cannot help but relate to the effect that Kate Winslet produced in one ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ – there’s actually infinite number of resemblances, and I do not know if it’s actually a basis. From what I saw, there appeared to be some faith.

The duels with the ‘ex-es’ are enjoyable, the visual effects mind-manipulating, making one think twice about passing this off as yet another slipshod effort at invoking humour, something that makes ‘Scott Pilgrim’ stand midway between a 12 year-old show stealer (like ‘Spy Kids’ or its dubious sequels) and a signature flick that’s solely meant for the eyes. What’s pleasant, moreover, is the fact that it doesn’t defy itself. There’s absolutely no intervention from anyone who shouldn’t be in the movie in the first place (like Anna Kendrick in this wasted role of miss ‘phonecall sister’) and thus when I see Scott Pilgrim, I see a metaphor for one that’s trying to prove his love along with trying to prove himself and all said, the hilarity definitely takes the grit away from the intention, despite the fact that that hilarity serves to entertain by itself. It complicates the critical eye for this is a film that does not reach the mind with the wildest of its efforts, and what can one do if he’s been left eye-dazzled?

Well, then that person has fifteen minutes to wake-up in this ‘nothing’ of a climax that helps one get back to square one. To understand the no-brainer, laugh at Mr. Schwartzmann after a howl at Mr. Routh, have a smile on the face for ‘Monster vs. the Dragons’, a reluctant acceptance of Michael Cera for what could be the very last time considering tolerance levels and last but not the least, hope that no one – NO ONE – ever attempts to bring to the screen such infantile comic strips such as this, no matter how great the effort or the CGI team.

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