This is the End

The world is going to end any minute now. By the time you’re done with this review it could already be over. At least that’s what Hollywood believes. Over the past few years it has churned out countless predictions for how humanity will meet its demise. Whether it’s a Mayan prophecy, alien invasion, zombie attack or a deathly virus Hollywood has been very creative in showing audiences worse case scenarios. But after all this tragedy some comedy relief is not far behind and this year some studios want us to go out on a high note. There is Edgar Wright’s latest Cornetto release (the series of films with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost that all have a different flavour of Cornetto in them) The World’s End as well as This Is a Disaster and Rapture-Palooza. But before them comes celebrity crammed This is the End a film so over the top it will either be an instant hit or a total flop.

In This is the End all the actors play caricatures of themselves. Jay Baruchel, from Knocked Up and How to Train your Dragon, comes to LA to visit his old friend Seth Rogen. After getting high together and playing computer games Rogen persuades Baruchel to go to a party at James Franco’s new house. There Baruchel must socialise with Rogen’s new friends who he’s made since he became a huge star. Then judgement day happens. The righteous are taken up in a blue light and the wicked, including most of the celebrities at the house party, are left on Earth to fend for themselves.

Although this doesn’t sound like this should work it does. It’s a stoner comedy that could have only come from the minds of Rogen and frequent collaborator Evan Goldberg, the team that brought us Pineapple Express and Superbad. There is a smorgasbord of talent here that all play up to the public’s perceptions of themselves. Rogen is a weed smoking nice guy; Baruchel is indie kid who hates LA; Franco is a liberal intellectual snob; Danny McBride is a gross partier; Jonah Hill is the new kid who wants to be nice. This leads to a number of extreme and comedic situations-whether it’s Franco painting a picture for Rogen to show his admiration or McBride turning up uninvited to the party. There are also characters that go against perception such as Michael Cera who plays a cocaine snorting sex-pest who receives a duel blowjob his Franco’s bathroom. The audience will laugh right the way through the film at just how ridiculous the characters are. The greatest scene has to be the one which involves Emma Watson using an axe to steal the group’s supplies. The movie should be a hit just for that.

It is possible that This is the End has unseen depths that analyse the concepts of celebrities and how they are not who we perceive them to be and in fact not good people (since most of them were left behind after the rapture). But on the surface it’s a simple buddy movie about sticking with people as they change and remembering to bring your friends with you as life goes on. That is if you were having a friendship crisis during the apocalypse. As all these actors have worked together in the past and enjoy each other’s company the chemistry is all there making the relationships believable. Baruchel is great as the geeky outsider who doesn’t like his best friend’s cooler friends.

About two thirds of the way through the film does drag a little. It probably could have had slightly less Lord of the Flies style examples of animosity growing within the house. It was not necessary to see every way in which the characters possibly fall out. But saying that the end makes up for this issue. With demon attacks, cannibalism and confrontations with the anti-Christ, the final thirty minutes is full of suspense.

This movie may be outrageous and extreme, but that is why it works so well. The cast fully get into their, sometimes self-critical, roles and play them with gusto. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but for those who have enjoy gross-out, dicks-out type comedies this is some of Rogen and Goldberg’s best work.

Degree-2:1

A hilarious film that doesn’t take itself seriously

and is better for it.

 

 

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World-Alternative Ending

Sadly I think the DVD is being released after Xmas so none of us will be get it in our stockings. However if you can’t wait then here is one of the extras found on the DVD-an alternative ending!!-Enjoy x

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World

Scott Pilgrim is certainly aimed at a very specific niche, which would explain its US box office flop, only making $30 million back on its $60 million budget. The source material was written for slackers about slackers, not geeks or teenagers, but slackers, which isolates a lot of the movie going public. With all this in mind I still highly recommend everyone to go and see it, even if the genre is not inside your comfort zone, as it is a truly amazing film.

The movie (so the avid fans say) sticks close to the original comics, ok ‘graphic novels’, by Bryan Lee O’Malley.  In these novels Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), the base guitarist for the unsigned band ‘Sex Bob-omb’, falls head over heels for the enigmatic Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). However to be with her Scott must first defeat her seven evil exes who all want to kick the crap out of him. It’s the relationship between Scott and Ramona that is the core of the film and the different dynamics in it are what make this film score high points. Between all the great visuals, dialogue and music (which I will get onto in a second) the film looks at real, relatable issues, if in a surreal setting. With Scott we see all the usual insecurity each of us feels when we start dating a new person: awkward, obsessed, nervous, cocky, doubtful. Scott goes through all these stages and we go through them with him. And with Ramona we witness what it is like running away from your past, but never fully escaping and having it come back to hurt those around you instead. Winstead does a great job making Ramona seem both strong and fragile at the same time, apologetic for her past, but not regretful.

A film with this many layers might be a surprise for a comic (sorry graphic novel) based movie, but it certainly isn’t for an Edgar Wright film. Both his previous movies, ‘Hot Fuzz’ and ‘Shaun Of The Dead’, had many layers of heart beneath the comedy. However Wright has certainly pulled away from his old British team of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in order to have an all American and Canadian cast. It also has a far larger budget that is put to good use. The entire film is a fusion of 80s video games and retro comics. The scenes shift and change as if you were reading a comic book, which can disorientate viewers at first, but trust me sticking around is worth it. The fights themselves are taken straight from video games such as ‘Street Fighter’, being both fast paced and intense, but lasting for the exact right amount of time. The timing of the film is absolutely perfect, with neither action nor dialogue going on for too long or becoming tired. The sound track is also as explosive as the fight scenes, even for one who is more comfortable with the top 40 than indie rock. Legendary alt-rock artist Beck wrote all of Sex Bob-omb’s songs while Canadian musicians Metric and Broken Social Scene penned the tracks for the other bands. The playlist is so good that a 2-CD soundtrack has been released and has got acclaimed reviews.

Even with all these great qualities, what truly makes ‘Scott Pilgrim Vs the World’ an exceptional film is the great cast and dialogue. Michael Cera is still playing the same slightly dorky character he has played in ‘Juno’ and ‘Super Bad’, but this time the character is also a douche. This grumpy, self-centred attitude that Scott often displays makes the character all the more real and believable and Michael Cera’s charm wins you over to rooting for him in every fight. As I’ve already mentioned Winstead is perfection, even under all the colourful wigs she had to wear. However, what most stands out is how rounded the supporting characters are. Each evil ex feels complete even though some only get a few seconds of screen time. Easily the two best exes were Chris Evan’s Lucas Lee and Brandon Routh’s Todd Ingman who each deliver hilarious performances. But the characters that rise above everyone else are Wallace (Kieran Culkin) and Knives Chau (Ellen Wong).  Wallace is Scott’s gay flatmate and is rare in the fact that he is not gay first and everything else second. Instead Wallace is witty, likable and insightful before being gay. Knives Chau on the other hand is the most lovable character you meet through the entire 112 minutes. Knives is the 17 year old school girl that Scott is dating when he meets Ramona and her bubbly, naïve, adoring attitude almost makes you want Scott to not bother with Ramona at all. Wong certainly provides the warm fuzzy feeling of the film. As for the script it is top notch with every character getting at least one funny line; except Shota Saito and Keita Saito who are twin actors from Japan and don’t speak any English. From one-liners, such as the ‘Hasbian’ insult, to topical jokes, such as the Vegan police, the script is both playful and insightful, lacking in neither imagination nor charm.

Ultimately Scott Pilgrim is a growing up story that has real heart and flare. Between the fights and the music is a clever, funny, moving story that deserves to gross higher than it has done in the States. However, even if it doesn’t do as well here as it should do, if you go see it and you like it you can feel good in the knowledge that you like a cool trendy film that will reach cult status in only a few years.

Degree: 1^st

A film that is not going to be to everyone’s taste, but is

still awesome. It has all the makings of a cult classic.