Movies Opening This Week: Bring Awesome Back

After a few uneventful weeks, Edgar Wright’s much anticipated new movie gets out and brings awesome back to the cinema.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Adapted from a series of comic books, Scott Pilgrim is essentially about a boy who’s in a band and is in love with a girl named Ramona Flowers. But before they can even do anything in solitude, Pilgrim, played by Michael Cera, has to fight off her seven evil ex-boyfriends, all of which have some very different character quirks… which reminds me a lot of the video game No More Heroes.

The movie’s soundtrack sounds great, the visual style distinctively mind-blowing and the fight scenes seemingly epic, but what gets me bothered is the fact that the movie, in the end, just seems very hollow for some reason. I mean, what plot is there other than the seven evil ex-boyfriends? Granted, I’m excited for this movie but I don’t think the actual story in terms of depth will really get me to love it. I have yet to see it for myself, but so far the movie has been getting some really positive feedback, so maybe I’ll change my mind when I actually get to see it.

Also slightly less awesome in the creative sense is the traditionally macho all-star cast of:

The Expendables

When have we honestly last seen Arnold Schwarzenegger in an honest-to-goodness real movie? Well, it’s kind of nostalgic to see him coming back with less of a badass stature and more of an old guy vibe… but this time he’s with forces like Stallone, Statham, and even Jet Li. A lot of big names that scream macho and badass can be found in this one, but the premise is just a conglomeration of ideas we’ve all seen before, but done much better. I mean, the trailers only bank on explosions for heaven’s sake.

This doesn’t really excite me at the least, but it seems to offer enough testosterone to warrant a rent when it comes on home video. For me, at least. I know there will be a guaranteed audience for this, especially considering the huge names attached to the project, but if this happened when each were at the prime of their careers, then will this movie be something truly special.

But the girls still have some cinematic room though:

Eat, Pray, Love

If you tire of the intense nature of explosive blockbusters, there’s this calmer romantic adaptation of the novel of the same name. It’s pretty much a girl travelling around to “let herself go” and “find herself” to “get over a relationship”.

I’m not sure whether the book is any good, but I don’t there’s anything to marvel at except for… India, Bali and Italy, I guess.

Looking at it cynically, it’s pretty much a woman wanting a ego boost, and everyone loves that, because it has the potential to spur inspiration, but aside from the times when Julia Roberts is on the screen, everything feels quite phony. I don’t know why, it just feels too artificial and devoid of any emotion. Kind of like what I feel for Scott Pilgrim, but it' doesn’t even have the distinct visual spectacle (aside from the exotic locales) nor the adequately distracting fight sequences. Maybe it’s just a matter of wrong timing, I mean, a movie like this during the summer blockbuster season, are you kidding?