schnide

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Hmm.. Entertainment Weekly called this: "The first rock & roll kung fu videogame youth love story." ..and that feels very much accurate. But what is it beyond that? The answer I have is, bizarrely, not much. I really was expecting something with more substance than style but I felt very let down by it or, even more precisely, never elated. It merely tickled me at best. Like another User Reviewer, it seemed to me like Knives was the most likeable character with Ramona never deserving of her goddess-like status from Scott. Speaking of who, as much as I like Michael Cera, especially when he's challenged by roles such as Youth In Revolt, this was possibly the weakest thing I've seen him in. Supposedly he played a a gaming-hero ladykiller, but I couldn't ever see him as anything else but a wimp from start to finish. Scott Pilgrim Vs The World was what I'd describe as a bubblegum film - slightly chewy, brightly coloured, and easily disposable. I didn't hate it, but I far from loved it.

In these environmentally conscious times, I can only applaud the production team for making the most of two unfinished movies and editing them together to be released as one. The first part of the film goes through all the standard horror elements that you've seen before with a few individual twists, where all of the three or four moments of scaring you rely on things jumping or running into frame. After that, where the second film takes over for the laughs, we have five solid minutes of exposition which I defy you to sit through with a straight face and say "oh so THAT'S what's going on!" You'll be pleased to know that Darth Maul gets reused in this film as one of the several bad guys who get thrown at you, and Insidious also has the best use of a WWII gas mask that I've ever seen in a modern comedy. And whoever the guy is in Hollywood who gets to push those kitchen drawers out, he gets another credit on his CV thanks to this one. Anyway, I'll be back in a second - I'm just off to astral project into the future to see the Jim Carrey remake. WoooOOOOooooOOOOOooOOOH!

If you like your movies big, dumb and noisy fun then Transformers 3 will be absolutely perfect for you. The plot makes no sense, the immature script reduces every human character (except for Rosie Huntingdon Whiteley because, you know, she's the hot chick and the opening shot of her butt establishes exactly what she's there for) to a cliched stereotype at least once, the action goes on for so long - particularly towards the end - that you get explosion fatigue.. This film exists to make money out of people who don't realise that action films can be smart and mind-blowing as well as screen blowing. It's basically the first and second film combined, with an added half hour, and is a license to print more cash. The opinions of critics, just like punctuation, grammar and worthwhile filmmaking, is something that people who'll give this 10 just really won't need to take any notice of. If you do sit through this, remember to thank Michael Bay at the end for making you that little bit dumber.

The believable dialogue from the tension between the three friends at the start is what really started drawing me in to this unusual thriller/horror, but when things take a turn for the worst it really did grip me. I think this movie, along with Buried, depends on your ability to empathise with what's happening on screen. Okay, so there were one or two scenes where I'd have done things differently, but otherwise this is a genuinely enjoyable movie which takes you to places you really might not expect. And that's still while staying on the slopes, a little too much so for comfort. I'm glad this was made.

This film is about one man inside a six foot wooden box. Where will the movie go? Will he get out? How would you feel if you were in the same situation? What happens when Ryan Reynolds is given more to do that be wide-eyed and good looking in sub-par chick flicks? The answer to these questions and more can be found by watching Buried, an original and well-crafted tense thriller/horror which is a pure antidote to high-octane ensemble cast blockbusters but no less thrilling for it. A must-see.