Scott Pilgrim Vs the World

How to describe Scott Pilgrim vs the World? It's kind of like if someone took a Michael Cera movie, old-school video games, comic books, a Beck CD and thew them in a blender together. And when you put them together, you're not too sure how it'll turn out. The result is weird. But it works. Though, I will admit, it most likely doesn't work for everyone.

It starts with Scott dating a high-school girl named Knives. She's 17, he's 22. Don't worry, they haven't even held hands yet. She's totally smitten with Scott. Scott seems as though he's satisfied having someone who thinks he's completely awesome after his last girlfriend wrecked him a year ago. But then Scott sees a girl in his dreams, then he sees her at the library. At a party he finds out who she is, Ramona, and that she happens to be there. He tries to talk to her, but it doesn't go so well. After that he finds that she delivers orders for Amazon.ca (it takes place in Toronto), so he orders something so she can deliver it. He convinces her to go to the show his band, Sex Bob-omb (Bob-omb is a Super Mario Bros. reference), is playing. At the show is when things start to get weird (this is a relative term) for Scott – they are interrupted and Scott is challenged to a fight by the first of Ramona's evil-exes. Over the course of the next few days (or however long, it doesn't really give a specific time frame) Scott tries to court Ramona, break up with Knives (“But it's hard” Scott replies when his roommate tells him to break up with her), and fight the rest of the evil-exes.

The film exists in a world akin to that of a comic book panel and video games. Sound effects appear on screen (“Knock knock” or “ring”) the same they do in comic books, not in the way they do in the 1960s Batman television show (full-screen “KAPOW!!!!”). It's a fun touch rather than a campy gimmick. Same goes with video game flourishes like power bars, hit combos, level ups, points, etc. And the film does it so naturally, it doesn't feel out of place or take you out of it – it doesn't call attention to the artifice. It actually serves it. That these exes have powers or abilities doesn't seem strange to the characters. When the exes are defeated, they burst into coins – after defeating the first, Scott gets excited and starts picking up the coins, only to be disappointed that it's not enough to cover bus fare. What seems strange is that they want to fight Scott at all.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of this movie is that with all of the stuff that's on the screen at any given moment, it's not over-indulgent, distracting, or mind-numbing. Because these touches pop up so frequently, you quickly become adjusted to them. And if you're even vaguely familiar with the vocabulary of video games and comics, it's not hard at all. They're a lot of fun, too, and don't get old because they don't continuously repeat the same thing.

And, really, the keyword when talking about this movie is 'fun.' It's a really well-made movie. It's very funny. The story is clever. But the most important thing about it, and what you'll leave thinking, is that it's an extremely fun movie. And it's not a knock on the movie like other movies where it's just ok and you can't really think of anything good to say about it so you say it was fun. It just oozes pure, unadulterated fun. I can't think of a movie I had as much fun watching.

The movie isn't for everyone (what movie is?), but I don't think the audience is as small and niche as people may think. If you don't know about, looking at it can make you just go 'what?' and think it's something for hardcore gamers and comic book readers, specifically, comic book readers who already know and have read this little known comic book. As someone who plays video games casually (more socially, as social drinkers or smokers only drink or smoke when out with others who do), has only read a handful of graphic novels (none of them are any of the books of this series), and only heard about this one a few months ago when I first saw the trailer, I found the movie extremely accessible. Take away all the flash and touches and it's a romantic comedy, a good one. Once people decide to give it a chance, they'll find that out and be greatly rewarded. You'll get over the weirdness.

It's cute, it's fun, it's never dull, it's funny, and just really, really good. It has a good cast (set Michael Cera aside for the anti-Cera crowd) that includes Kieran Culkin, Brandon Routh, and Jason Schwartzman. There's a very good chance you will leave the theater with a smile on your face. Give it a shot.

4 out of 5

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I've heard a lot of good things about The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, a Swedish film adaptation of the Swedish novel of the same name. I haven't read the book, whenever I see it I pick it up, read the back and think it doesn't sound like something I'd want to read. It's the story about an investigation about a 40 year old missing girl case and murders. Next year there'll be an American adaptation directed by David Fincher, so this should be right up his alley (check out Zodiac). So I figured I'd check this out.

The film is slow to get going. Part of this is setting up the character of Mikael Blomkvist. A necessary delay. He's a disgraced journalist who has just been convicted of slandering a businessman (he claims he was set up) and will start his jail sentence in six months. He needs to have a reason to take up the case of the missing Harriet Vanger when called upon by her uncle Henrik. The case is 40 years old. He has nothing to lose, so he might as well look into this, he won't be working otherwise as he's been pushed out of his magazine by the scandal.

What's unnecessary is all the time spent on Lisbeth Salander (the girl with the dragon tattoo of the title). She's eccentric. And she has issues. But they spend a lot of time, in the beginning, delaying the actual start of the story with a sidetrack between her and her new parole guardian. He's abusive and likes to take advantage of his power. The episode is, in and of itself, interesting and compelling. In the larger framework of the story, however, it doesn't add anything that couldn't be done in a more subtle fashion. It's supposed to add character to her, but you could just as easily add that depth through hints, mannerisms, etc, and not stop the story dead in its tracks for 10-15 minutes, just as it's starting to get going. Besides, she's supposed to be enigmatic, so she'd be better served without us knowing. And it seems to be revealed, at the end, that she has a previous history of suffering through abuse, so is this extra 10-15 minutes really necessary?

Once the dust settles on that and the story finally starts to get going, it's really good. It's well done. It's shot very well and the actors give good performances, especially Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth. There's family intrigue, as the Vanger family lives on an island accessible only by a single bridge. Harriet disappeared while the bridge was blocked off for 24 hours because of a traffic accident. The whole clan was there for a business meeting, they don't like each other, and many of them are very unsavory, so there's a select group of possible suspects. The cops weren't able to find anything for 40 years.

Lisbeth, who works for a security company, had previously been hired to investigate Mikael, and she is a very skilled computer hacker. Even though her investigation is over, she continues to hack into Mikael's computer. Once he starts working on the case, she comes across a clue that she's able to crack thanks to her photographic memory. She sends him an email which leads him to bring her on board for the case. From there they unravel serial murders with religious themes, which it seems Harriet seemed to be looking into and maybe got too close to.

The twists and turns are well done and build suspense. It keeps you on the edge of your seat. Then they solve the murders, but not the disappearance of Harriet. When the murders are solved, you feel the resolution and are thus ready for the movie to be over, but it has to continue on further. So this makes the end feel as though it drags on and on. Even when they figure out what happened to Harriet, they drag it on even more.

The original Swedish title translates to Men Who Hate Women and the movie can tend to beat you over the head with that theme, without really saying anything about violence against women. It could use more subtlety. Is there a woman in this movie who hasn't been abused by a man?

In between the slow start and dragging end, this is a very good, interesting, suspenseful movie. Lisbeth is an intriguing character. With some trimming, this could be a much better movie. But I still don't know if the book is something I'd want to read.

3 out of 5