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Post by The Shad on Aug 23, 2010 21:51:54 GMT
Just finished it there myself.
Good points: big fan of black and white art. This was done very well. Very energetic throughout, which SHOULD translate to screen very well, especially under Edgar Wright.
Cons: Bar Wallace, there are no likable characters. At all. Scott is a loser, who spends most of the time completely impotent. When he's told that seven guys are coming to kill him, he just accepts it. He doesn't ask why, or get angry. He just accepts it. He steals Wallace's credit cards, he cheats on Knives (a kid he strung along), and when his girlfriend leaves he becomes a complete scumbag, asking Knives (who just turned 18, a fact he pounces on) to have casual sex with him and putting the moves on his friend. Okay, he's all messed up since Ramona left. But he was doing this before Ramona. He's just reverting to type. He gets bailed out by his parents, he spends $200 on a PSP instead of on food. No one calls him on this until volume 5.
Wallace is cool, though. I'd gladly read a comic about his wacky misadventures.
Stuff happens, with no explanation. What the [censored] was the deal with the glowing, and subspace? How [censored]ing awesome/horrible is this girl, to inspire seven guys to get together and be evil? Why are they doing it? The first one kissed her and hung around her for a week. What the hell did she do to turn him evil? Vegan psychic powers are seemingly unaffected by not being a vegan. Also, and this is probably just because I read the whole thing all at once, but "Knives Chau: Seventeen years old," gets really annoying, really fast. "Knives Chau: Seventeen years old." "Knives Chau: Seventeen years old." "Knives Chau: Seventeen years old." Arghargharghargh
And, the art. Now, as I said, I do love black and white comics. This is a very good example, except for one point. The faces. The sameface is not as bad as Steve Dillon, but it's there. I spent three pages thinking I was looking at Ramona, only to discover that it was Kim.
And that brings us to why the film is not hugely successful (according to box office). Its weird. Now, don't get me wrong, I like weird. I love weird. I regularly read books about how some guy fell asleep under a tree and gets spirited away by elves for sex. But this has a guy pulling a sword out of his chest because of the power of love, and it's played dead straight. No one asks how someone can walk through your dreams. How the hell does the save point work? Its just thrown out there.
Might go and see the film, though. Like I said, its energy should translate very well to screen.
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Post by Sam on Aug 23, 2010 22:45:26 GMT
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Post by Baron Canier on Aug 24, 2010 11:51:02 GMT
Bar Wallace, there are no likable characters. At all. I wouldn't say that. The group dymanics work quite well, despite Scott being the main focus of the book. Scott is a loser, who spends most of the time completely impotent. While I agree with you finding him reprehensible, it becomes pretty clear that the character was meant to be something of a wretch, only convinced he was trying to better himself. Volume 5 and 6 are essentially his lowest point before he pulls himself back to his feet, accepts the ill deeds he's done and finally matures. This doesn't make him any less of a git, but at least it was deliberate set-up. Also, just because he's a wretched human being doesn't mean you can't find him amusing. He comes out with some good material, even if some of it is at his expense. When he's told that seven guys are coming to kill him, he just accepts it. He doesn't ask why, or get angry. He just accepts it. The book is actually misleading in its draw factor: you think "Oh wow, we're gonna see some creative fighting", only to find the fights aren't meant to be the big deal. In Scott Pilgrim the mundane is the harsh adventure: finding someone to love, social pitfalls, losing friends etc. Those are all the big deal. Whereas, to these characters, leaping fifteen feet into the air and shooting a fireball is average at best. I may not find this book all that monumental, but I'd definitely chalk that approach up to part of its charm. The bits where the group is just bumming around are its most endearing segments. It's also why Scott seems more concerned about how things are going with Ramona than the seven opponents out for his blood. You could even say that in itself is part of the humour; "A movie star wants to kill me. But, more importantly, my girlfriend doesn't like my band!". You get the idea. What the [censored] was the deal with the glowing, and subspace? The glow was meant to be something about being "trapped in your own head". Gideon made it somehow. Yeah, the finale got really [censored]ing confusing, didn't it? Subspace lines are just another weird aspect of the world that everyone finds mundane. It was mainly there to facilitate some amusing scenes with Ramona inside Scott's dreams. Oh, and that bit with Gideon. How [censored]ing awesome/horrible is this girl, to inspire seven guys to get together and be evil? That was kind of the point about Ramona; she seems perfect, but is something of a user and a [censored]. She needs to mature just as much as Scott. They're bitter. That's basically it. People hold grudges. It's just in the world of Scott Pilgrim they can enact revenge more effectively by learning how to summon demons or kill things with their mind. The faces. The sameface is not as bad as Steve Dillon, but it's there. I spent three pages thinking I was looking at Ramona, only to discover that it was Kim. Agree 100% How the hell does the save point work? Its just thrown out there. Dude, that was just a throwawy gag. Some sort of analogy to "Oh god, I wish I could do [some event] in a different way". Might go and see the film, though. Like I said, its energy should translate very well to screen. I think so, too. Especially since I found some fights to be a bit stilted and slow on the page.
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Post by Warped‽‽‽ on Aug 24, 2010 17:55:20 GMT
Film was okay. Received it just like the book, not my thing but okay. My friends on the other hand, who love the books, were whooping throughout and it became fairly embarrassing when they started clapping. At the opening. Nerk.
The rest of the crowd seemed pretty indifferent to be honest, managing a few chuckles at best. (Although this was probably because it was a free viewing for students, who were only there to see a free film, so eh)
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Post by L. T. Dangerous on Aug 25, 2010 13:55:09 GMT
I finally read volume one today. Holy [censored] this is absolutely bloody hilarious. I laughed nearly from start to finish. I'm beginning to understand why this has received the level of hype it has.
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Post by Arch on Aug 25, 2010 14:13:55 GMT
Saw the film today and it was fantastic. I've spent the last 3 years hating it because of how ridiculous people on this forum got about it, but it was completely unfounded. Every bit of the film was brilliant, totally geeky, totally fun. From what I've seen of Edgar Wright, he can't really do anything wrong.
Shame the cinema decided to mix up two 25-minute reels of the movie, so we'd already got to the second fight before we knew why any of this was happening. Then we found out later. I thought this was something quirky we were supposed to understand, until I got my money back. Figures.
Great film, anyway.
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Post by Arch_one_zero_one on Aug 26, 2010 0:29:45 GMT
Saw this tonight, and loved it. A couple of my mates were sceptical beforehand, but they all enjoyed it.
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Post by madhair60 on Aug 26, 2010 19:54:15 GMT
Movie was good. I'll probably dislike it tomorrow, because I keep thinking of annoyances. I think it's getting an easy ride, but that might be because I've read the comics so much.
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Post by Baron Canier on Aug 26, 2010 21:24:58 GMT
Fun film. Story was compressed to hell and you'll probably be suffering from fight fatigue long before the end, but it's a very fun film.
It's also dying a death at the box office, apparently.
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Post by Sam on Aug 26, 2010 23:46:05 GMT
Cinema was packed in Nottingham; great film. I remember when the trailer first came out and I wondered what this mess was. But after speaking to friends and learning about the story and characters (and watching the trailer a few more times over) I was very much looking forward to seeing it.
And it didn't disappoint. I've now got the books to read through.
I really liked the effects they used throughout too.
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Post by Baxter on Aug 27, 2010 7:27:00 GMT
Seen twice now.
More people need to do so.
'tis good.
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Post by madhair60 on Aug 27, 2010 11:31:48 GMT
I thought it went really overboard with the videogame stuff in the last twenty minutes. It was almost embarrassingly overt in places.
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Post by Sam on Aug 27, 2010 15:09:30 GMT
The only thing I disliked was the "Scott received the power of" on screen text (was there a VO? I can't remember).
This might be the first film since Garden State that I go and see at the cinema more than once.
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Post by Samface on Aug 27, 2010 15:45:18 GMT
I enjoyed the movie very much. Top marks go to Kim (Allison Pill I think the actor's name is?) who was absolutely perfect.
EDIT: Oh, and I bought the game this morning. Only played the first level-and-a-bit, but so far it's pretty good. The way that health works (you get both HP and "gut points") is confusing, but I'm gradually getting the hang of it. Looks and sounds lovely, of course. You can pick up enemies and use them to beat other enemies over the head. Multiple background cameos for characters that weren't even in the movie (seen Hollie, Lisa and Joseph so far). Yeah. Stuff.
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Post by madhair60 on Aug 27, 2010 16:36:55 GMT
Gut points are basically MP. You use them for special moves - when you have none, special moves sap health like in Streets of Rage. Also, if you run out of HP and have gut points remaining, you will convert them into HP.
I think.
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Post by Samface on Aug 27, 2010 19:34:04 GMT
Aaaaaah. See, if they'd just said "it's like Streets of Rage" I wouldn't have got confused. Cheers.
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Post by Balls on Aug 30, 2010 13:36:51 GMT
Gut points are basically MP. You use them for special moves - when you have none, special moves sap health like in Streets of Rage. Also, if you run out of HP and have gut points remaining, you will convert them into HP. I think. So it's basically the same as that "OK" bar thing in Streets Of Rage 3?
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Post by Sam on Aug 30, 2010 13:37:30 GMT
Yeah.
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Post by Blizz on Aug 30, 2010 14:53:04 GMT
I saw it on Saturday. Utterly awesome. Can't wait to see it again.
Next step is to pick up the soundtrack when I see it.
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Post by L. T. Dangerous on Sept 1, 2010 13:41:07 GMT
I managed to get volumes 5 and 6 today. Predictably, 2-4 are sold out everywhere. Am I informed correctly that 6 is the final book?
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Post by Baron Canier on Sept 1, 2010 13:49:09 GMT
Yeah, 6 is the finale.
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Post by Samface on Sept 1, 2010 17:49:14 GMT
Just thought I'd point out to anyone who's just starting to pick up the series that there are a few free comics hidden away on scottpilgrim.com. Two of them are set between volumes 3 and 4, the other two don't really have a set time. They don't contain any STAGGERING REVELATIONS or anything, but hey. Go here and head to the bottom of the page.
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Post by L. T. Dangerous on Sept 2, 2010 0:34:16 GMT
Thanks, guys. I showed my mum volume one today. She read a few pages and then asked "Is it like this the whole way through?" I nodded. A pause. "I think I'm hooked" She's taken the book with her to read
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Post by ShayMay on Sept 4, 2010 1:58:30 GMT
I just read the whole thing. It was alright. It made me grin with a few of the references and lines, it wasn't completely up itself with "oh look videogames lol", as I was fearing, and it was pretty fun. Oh, and all the characters were likable. However, I thought the ending was absolutely naff (everything after the extra life bit was confusing and somewhat unfounded), the art was below average (I know it's not meant to be incredible, but it was so-so at best, and when you have difficulty telling who's who and what's going on, it's not a good sign), and overall it just wasn't as impacting as I expected. Still, a fun read.
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Post by Mecha HMS on Sept 9, 2010 17:15:35 GMT
Seen the film and was taken back with how many people were there to watch it not alot maybe 15 at most?
Brilliant Film that isn't given much attention as it was released same time as Inception/Expendables and Grown Ups.
Bit upsetting really that its getting little to no love. apparently dying in box office.
But to the film I loved every bit of it and Micheal Cera played the part fantastically well.
All of the exes were awesome and thought one scene was reminestant of Amy Rose and her Hammer.
Definately getting on DVD when its released and going to get the game too
My favourite Evil Ex was Todd Ingram but Gideon Graves was a close second
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