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

Life As We Know It

reviewed by guest lecturer Will Tooke

Full disclosure: this is not the sort of film I’d normally go and see. A cursory YouTube of the trailer (see below) confirmed my worst fears. The blonde chick from ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and that army dude from ‘Transformers’ inherit a one-year-old girl – the way you do – with amusing but ultimately touching results. My inbuilt rom-com alarm was flashing red, anticipating the need for a post-cinema insulin shot, given how sickly sweet the damn thing looked.

And so off I traipsed into the cinema, pen sharpened; ready to be profoundly irritated by gags about babies pooing and weeing and vomiting, a bodily-function-backdrop for the main characters to learn something new about each other and maybe themselves. Ugh. As predicted, director Greg Berlanti gets a lot of mileage out of nappies being changed, to the extent that you could well suspect some sort of underhand product placement deal with Pampers. And yet…and yet…I quite liked it.

There, I said it. My anticipated bile towards this new rom-com was perhaps due to the fact the last one I sat through was ‘Did You Hear About The Morgans?’, in which Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker charmlessly play two divorcees who have go on the run from the mob and learn to love each other again. To pass the time, I secretly wished that the mobster would get a move on and just shoot the pair in the head already; I imagine the scene with Sarah Jessica Parker would look like a horse getting put down. But I digress.

Yes, I quite liked ‘Life As We Know It’. After all, aforementioned blonde chick from ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ is Katherine Heigl, who proved her comedic credentials in 2008s ‘Knocked Up’, a film which holds the dual distinction of being hilarious and horrifying in equal measure (the latter mainly due to the fact I now know what ‘crowning’ is. Those who remain blissfully unaware: beware the urge to Google). Here, Heigl plays Holly, a thirty something who is impossible not to like. Similarly, whilst I view ‘Transformers’ with the level of hatred usually reserved only for the very worst war criminals, at least this film gives male lead Josh Duhamel the chance to act in his role as Eric, which must be nice for him, since running from and/or shooting at big space robots doesn’t really allow much range.

Absolutely, its by the numbers in terms of it’s rom-comminess, and the will-they won’t-they dynamic in the relationship never really works because the genre means you can see the ending coming about 5 minutes into the film. Set in the pleasant suburbs of Atlanta, the film begins with the two leads hating each other and 100 minutes later ends with that emotional dash to the airport – an ending, incidentally, I swear they used at least three times in Friends. Actually, in hindsight, the film is packed full of clichés. Holly is kind and runs her own cake shop, because, ya know, she’s a women, and women cook and have feelings and stuff. By contrast, Eric irritatingly insists that people call him by his surname, sleeps with a lot of women, and is a bit insensitive because, like, he’s a bloke. And just incase you weren’t one hundred and ten percent sure he’s a manly man, he even works for TV sports channel. Being a jock is literally his living. The only way the character could’ve been made anymore more masculine is if he had done push ups with his penis.

Naturally, a comedy fat neighbour – a slave driver to her own, poor husband – can’t resist having a jolly good perv on our Eric, but then neither can the Token Gay Couple™ (who live in socially conservative Georgia? Poor bastards…). Half way through the film, up crops a hunky doctor with a sexy southern accent, purely to add a dash of love triangle dynamic to the whole affair. Poor bugger, the audience know as soon as he appears that he is, of course, just a plot device; a dishy decoy and nothing more.

Speaking of plot, you could accuse me of giving away far too many spoilers, but then that is sort of the point of rom-coms, you know exactly what your getting before your bum even hits the seat on that second date. Be honest, if you knew nothing about this film other than its genre, you’d have a pretty decent stab at guessing the rough storyline. And once you understand and accept that this light, cliché ridden romp is basically all that rom-coms ever are, all that they ever can be, then its hard not to like Life As We Know It. But despite the film being so generic, strangely enough, the reason why this film isn’t as irritating as it should be – and why other critics haven’t been so kind to it – is because tonally it’s all over the place. But that’s actually to its strength, that it resists being quite so totally clichéd. So whilst there is the familiar rom-com fodder mentioned above, there is also a pretty subversive streak of humour running throughout – jokes about paedophile paediatricians, child killers and dropping babies provide a welcome piquancy to what would have otherwise been a singularly sweet cinematic offering.

After all is said and done, Life As We Know It is never going to win any Oscars. You know it, and I know it. But dear reader, crucially, the film knows that too. After all’s said and done, Life As We Know It is a pretty amiable way to spend a couple of hours, will raise a few genuine, unexpected laughs and doesn’t feature Sarah Jessica Parker. And what more than that, dear reader, could you want of a rom-com?

Degree: 2:1

As a rom com it’s a good film….not liking it for it’s cliches would be like not liking a bond film

because of the guns and girls; it’s part of the deal.

It’s well made, and raises some good laughs. I was as surprised as you are!

(If you are confused about the rating system please click on the ‘About This Blog Page’ which will explain it all)

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.