Marvel's Expanding Universe: Comic Con in Short

Because Otherwise We'd Be Here Forever

Finally found a cover picture for these articles!

Due to complaints that the superhero-movie posts are too many, and the "other stuff" movie posts are too few on this site, I'm going to compile the 10 posts I wanted to put up these past few days into one summarized post of all the excellence that happened at Comic Con. From an intergalactic raccoon to cream-colored armor, here's the finest bits of Marvel news for you.

Yet Another Movie Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

"Remind me why I'm interested in you?" "My pink hair."

Some movies are what I like to call “lukewarm:” a movie that just can’t decide what it is. Whether it’s a serious-but-silly comedy, or an action flick with almost political overtones, this is a movie that would be better off picking one thing or the other and sticking with it. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, whatever its flaws, is not lukewarm. From the get-go, this movie only tries to do one thing, entertain, and it does that one thing excellently. From over-the-top fight scenes, to wacky comic-book-style visuals, to a host of amusing characters, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World keeps you laughing all the way through.

Think Super Mario on Caffeine Only Better: A Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Review

Who needs a lightsaber when you can have the Power of Love?
And yes, the Power of Love is a sword. In case you were wondering.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World acts quite similar to the video games which it constantly references. A nonstop thrill ride shot at a downright frenetic pace, director Edgar Wright’s latest delivers the most sheer entertainment to hit theaters in a long time.

Michael Cera is the leader of said ride as a hero taking on the world (or perhaps more accurately, defeating his new girlfriend Ramona Flowers’ seven evil exes). Cera here does nothing anyone hasn't seen before: playing the endearing dorky and borderline girly wimp with a heart of gold and strange sense of humor, which he has repeated in nearly all of his roles. While this may throw off some, I was never particularly bothered by it. Cera does what he does best and has never done it better than in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Besides, the world Cera inhabits remains the true appeal.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: Worth Exactly One Watch

When I heard that Bryan Lee O'Malley's indie comic series Scott Pilgrim was getting a movie adaptation, I was more than a little skeptical. While the current Dark Knight-chasing superhero movie craze proves that it's possible to adapt comic heroes, there have been very few successful attempts to actually adapt comics. In fairness, superhero comics, which dominate the American market to a ludicrous extent, don't lend themselves naturally to it - there is no overarching plot to Superman's story, or Batman's, but rather origin stories and then about seventy years of interlocking, self-contradictory, increasingly bizarre plots (is Bruce Wayne still dead, by the way? Or did Blackest Night fix that?) that you can't really make into a film because they depend on everything before them. The few limited series that do get adaptations - Watchmen, V for Vendetta, this year's Kick-Ass - tend to either lose what made a good series good or make a bad one hilariously worse. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) now joins that not-so-illustrious list.

Well, it is a rather decent adaptation of Scott Pilgrim. In fact, I would say it's better as a movie than Scott Pilgrim was as a comic book. If only that were saying much. Spoilers ahead.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World Premiere

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No! It’s Scott Pilgrim flying into theaters! Many of us here at the blog have won advanced passes to see Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World with a lot of fan boys and even the professional critic John Serba. Needless to say we are all pretty excited for the show. Just to put it a little more clearly, here are a few reasons as to why excitement for this movie is warranted: