Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) Dir: Edgar Wright

Edgar 'Spaced, Shaun of the Dead' Wright's massively divisive video game fantasy is a strange beast.

The plot:
Dork supremo Michael Cera plays Scott Pilgrim, bassist in a band called Sex Bob-Omb. Even though he is in his early twenties, he's dating a seventeen year old Chinese girl named Knives. At a party, hoping to get a break with some A and R types, he meets the girl of his dreams, Ramona, and promptly makes a complete tit of himself.
A few days later, when Scott opens his door to receive a parcel, he is surprised to find that it is Ramona herself acting as courier and plucks up the courage to ask her on a date. Reluctantly, she agrees, but omits to tell him that, in order to date her Scott must do battle to the death against her Seven Evil Exes.....

Based on a graphic novel, visually this combines the comic strip ethic with retro video game stylings: When a punch lands, captions pop up saying Kerpow, when a phone rings, it's there in lettering on the screen and, when an enemy is defeated, they are rendered into coins to be gathered.
With a soundtrack that utilises the sound effects from classic computer games, this should be every gamers fantasy but, crucially, the thing that drags this down is the teen soap opera trappings of the plot. Take away the overtly stylistic approach from Wright, and what you are left with is an extended episode of Hollyoaks, which no-one wants, surely.
This hybridisation leaves it quite a cold viewing experience as, for everything of merit, there is an element to disappoint.
Quite unlike any other film I have ever seen, for which credit is due, it's also pretty clear why this flopped so spectacularly at the box office.
A failure, then, but a noble one.

3 out of 5

Green Lantern (2011) Dir: Martin Campbell

Last seen playing a man buried alive in, erm, Buried, here Ryan Reynolds takes on one of the lesser known comic book characters, Green Lantern.
The plot:
A seemingly unstoppable force of evil known as Parallax is spreading through the universe. The Green Lantern Corps, a multi-species spanning group of Green Lantern's (!) set about trying to stop its destructive path and, in so doing, one of their most revered members is slain. The ring which gave him power leaves him and transfers to another worthy soul in the shape of Reynolds' Hal Jordan, a test pilot for the US Air Force. Propelled to the planet Oa, base of the Green Lantern Corp, governed by The Guardians, Hal learns the truth of his new identity and is himself thrust into the war against Parallax.
Any chance he might be the one to save the day?
Eh?
Though this is certainly entertaining, there are a few issues.
Parallax, the main menace in the movie, is nought but a CGI rendered monstrosity which instantly robs the movie of any genuine tension. Seriously, try and think of a movie where the main villain is a special effect that actually had any tension.
Keep thinking.
Given up?
I know I have.
Next, Hal Jordan's character is a bit of a problem. Here we have a spectacularly good looking man, with a body that looks like it was sculpted. The first time we meet him he is lying in bed next to a beautiful woman before jumping up and dashing off to his day job as a jet fighter with a rebellious streak. I mean, it's pretty hard not to hate his fucking guts.
Add on the ridiculously expositional nature of much of the dialogue - essential as the premise is a pretty complex one - and the one dimensional relationships Hal forges and what you are left with is something that looks spectacular, with the odd sprinkling of interest and humour but which generally leaves you with a sense of 'Meh.'
Not awful, just nothing of particular note, this falls way short of the comic book excellence of the original X-Men movie, Batman Begins or even this years fun and funder fest Thor.
Watch it if you are a die hard comic book fan, otherwise this can be safely ignored.

3 out of 5

The Warrior's Way (2010) Dir: Sngmoo Lee

You know, I was only thinking 'tuther day, what this world needs is more Ninja Vs. Cowboy movies and, as luck would have it, along came The Warrior's Way to my local World of Cine.
The plot: Dong-gun Jang plays Yang, finest swordsman in a clan of vicious and feared Ninja's known as The Sad Flutes, a moniker earned in tribute to the sound a throat makes after it has been slashed open. Sent on a mission to wipe out once and for all their most deadly enemies, Yang all but succeeds, but cannot bring himself to kill the last of the enemy clan - a tiny, female baby.
Shunned by his own kind for his act of mercy, Yang travels far, finding himself in America, in a small town called Lode, populated almost exclusively by circus folk. With a tyrannical overlord named Ron (Geoffrey Rush) leaving the population in fear, Yang must try to build himself a new life.
But, inevitably, his past will catch up with him, in a final showdown between Ron's own army and The Sad Flutes, the population of Lode very much caught in the crossfire.
And it's a strange affair, all round.
Mixing humour and cartoon violence, this tries to do too much and ultimately fails to be anything of particular substance. It is, however, beautifully shot, both in terms of the choreography of the action sequences, as well as the backdrops and general cinematography.
And it is not without it's charm.
Dong-gun Jang is a likeable enough lead, and Kate Bosworth makes for a decent foil.
The set-pieces are pretty spectacular, though there aren't enough of them, with the action very much in the comic book ilk, more 300 than The Last Samurai.
Sporadically violent, occasionally amusing, intermittently charming, it's clear to see why this is something of a box office flop, but it is also apparent that it will attract a devoted, cult following.
I quite liked it.

3 out of 5