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I've enjoyed everything Wright's been involved in, but I've never read the Scott Pilgrim series. I've heard good things, yet it also seems to have a reputation as a comic book for hipsters. Nonetheless, the geeky vibe I get from what I've heard about it seems right up Wright's ally.

The vibe of the comic is more hip than geeky. The basic structure of the thing (boy meets girl, boy falls for girl boy has to best girl's evil ex-boyfriends in combat...) is clearly influenced by manga but the characters all quite attractive and socially active and cool with funky haircuts in a way that is quite a way away from the geeky slovenliness of Spaced or Shaun of the Dead.

Hipsters only read comic books cleared by New Yorker. As for this book, it only gets as hipster as Scott wearing a New Pornographers tee or Ramona wearing a Merge Records tee. I'm very sceptical about the film because half the fun of the comic is Scott's face, ie his reactions and his eyes. I really don't see Cera being able to channel Scott at such a disadvantage. Also, O'Malley has characterized Scott as a dick and I can't see Cera going there either. In any case, I love the books so I look forward to actually seeing the film.

You're delusional if you think Scott Pilgrim isn't hipster-sanctioned

domino harvey wrote:You're delusional if you think Scott Pilgrim isn't hipster-sanctioned

As opposed to Optic Nerve? Or Daniel Clowes? Ha. I must have missed the memo because it certainly wasn't when I started reading it.

I guess hipsters forgot to cc you on that one

Well, how long has Scott Pilgrim been popular among hipsters? I remember hearing about it about four years ago when it was fairly obscure, but seemed to be building up a fanbase among gamers, manga fans and the like.

Jean-Luc Garbo wrote:I'm very sceptical about the film because half the fun of the comic is Scott's face, ie his reactions and his eyes. I really don't see Cera being able to channel Scott at such a disadvantage. Also, O'Malley has characterized Scott as a dick and I can't see Cera going there either.

This might be the first chance he's been given to play someone other than George-Michael Bluth.

Unlike Cera though, Mary Elizabeth Winstead (and her eyes) looks like the real life embodiment of the art style.

First cast pic-- I'm not sure why Kim Pine looks so dumpy, but hey, look at Cera's ridiculous hair!

Here's the fuzzy embiggened version.

I'm blown away every time I see a picture of Stephen Stills. It looks like he's crawled right off the pages of the comic.

Brandon Routh as Todd Ingram is similarly perfect casting.

They all look like teenagers! Except for Knives, most of the characters are actually in their early twenties. WTF. And where's Wallace? At least the actress playing Ramona has got the look on her face right. I'll grudgingly accept Cera as Scott now, but I'm still skeptical.

Kieran Culkin plays Wallace, which despite him not being Asian is really the only casting decision that made perfect sense to me-- though some of the minor characters that showed up on Wright's blog look right on (The girl playing Julie Powers, for instance). Also, I didn't realize Ann from Arrested Development was playing Roxy Richter. That's either brilliant or awful casting, I can't decide

domino harvey wrote: Also, I didn't realize Ann from Arrested Development was playing Roxy Richter. That's either brilliant or awful casting, I can't decide

...Her?

domino harvey wrote:Kieran Culkin plays Wallace....Also, I didn't realize Ann from Arrested Development was playing Roxy Richter.

Thanks, domino. I didn't know that they were reaching into book four here. For some reason, I was thinking they'd only film the first two books. If they get two many exes in the movie, they better know how to structure it. Each book only has Scott fight one ex at a time so I wonder how the film will structure it.

The film will be an adaptation of the entire series, including the sixth book which O'Malley hasn't even finished yet. Part of the Hollywood deal was O'Malley committing to a complete outline, but naturally the film's ending will end up differing somewhat from O'Malley's finished comic version. A certain prominent indie actor is also cast as the as of yet barely-glimpsed Gideon, who I won't spoil if you don't know. Based on his cameo in this year's book five, I honestly suspect O'Malley finally drew Gideon only after he knew who was going to be cast. I think putting all ~1200 pages of the comic into one movie is a bad idea and the film seems likely to lose a lot of the cadences that make the series so much fun, but hey, that's Hollywood for you. There's already a leaked picture of Ramona and her giant sledgehammer, so Wright does seem to be keeping the more fantastical elements in play.

Also, here's a further criticism if you want complete conjecture "spoilers" on the end of the series

Spoiler

It seems that O'Malley has been setting up Kim Pine to be the girl Pilgrim ends up with, not Ramona Flowers. But whereas the two definitely give each other a run for the money in the comic, I see a vaster discrepancy in their real-life counterparts. Who would decide on pigtailless Pippi?

Well, the ending of the script (which admittedly could be altered during shooting) goes as follows:

Spoiler

Neither Kim nor Ramona. It turns out his real true love is Knives Chau. Which is wrong for all kind of reasons including the fact that it posits Scott as some sort of King Dick who finally learns to be content with a girl that's not out of her league. Um, yay?
What's even weirder is that Knives actually takes him back. It seems that loser exes are really sexy.

The leaked draft of the script is really awful.
The denouement is meant to be some kind of celebration of slacker nerds, and it feels like the reverse of the message about moving forward with your life from the comics.

Legible sound effects aren't selling me on this.

Oh WOW, I have to admit, Wright really appears to have captured the mood and tone of the series. I think the last volume is coming out in July too?

domino harvey wrote:Oh WOW, I have to admit, Wright really appears to have captured the mood and tone of the series.

I disagree. The film looks really...grey. Michael Cera seems very shy and awkward; nothing like the goofy and energetic Scott Pilgrim.

I think the last volume is coming out in July too?

Yeah, July 20.

I don't think Cera is capable of being goofy, so I wasn't expecting anything more than he brought. But the part with the movie star ex throwing Pilgrim into a building and then turning around nonchalantly to Ramona Flowers, or the brief glimpse of Roxy Richter, look on target. Surely those cartoon text effects are just for the trailer? Someone would have mentioned that angle by now if it were in the film (famous last words)

I'd always thought of Scott Pilgrim as being very bright and colourful, so this grey-filtered tons-of-lens-flares look seems particularly boring, like every other green-screen movie these days.

domino harvey wrote:But the part with the movie star ex throwing Pilgrim into a building and then turning around nonchalantly to Ramona Flowers, or the brief glimpse of Roxy Richter, look on target.

That was great. Chris Evans looks like he walked straight out of the comic.

domino harvey wrote:Surely those cartoon text effects are just for the trailer? Someone would have mentioned that angle by now if it were in the film (famous last words)

Got some bad news for you.

domino harvey wrote:Surely those cartoon text effects are just for the trailer? Someone would have mentioned that angle by now if it were in the film (famous last words)

Routh mentioned them in an interview. I think they add a humour to the proceedings.

Cde. wrote:I'd always thought of Scott Pilgrim as being very bright and colourful, so this grey-filtered tons-of-lens-flares look seems particularly boring, like every other green-screen movie these days.

Maybe everyone's afraid of being compared to Speed Racer (which I thought was a great-looking movie).