Scott Pilgrim vs.... The Expendables?
By
Acemace,
Posted on: 2010-08-05 22:01 in Comic and Hero-Villain Culture
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I and 3 friends went to "Vampires Suck" this weekend - not because we thought it was going to be anything other than trash - but beacuse it's fun to mock how bad these kinds of movies are.|
Originally Posted by BlackArachnia
I can understand Expendables beating SP.
But Vampires Suck? You have to be kidding me. |
Two of them play console games, and the other one is a hardcore Trekie - none of them had the slightest interest in seeing "Scott Pilgrim".
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
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It failure at the box office stems from two general reasons, bad timing and niche audience. It was promoted insanely the past month and half.|
Originally Posted by Golden Girl
I guess I'm just not that much of a geek then
 Maybe if they'd promoted it better, it might not have been a box office disaster? |
It was a bad idea to release it this late into the summer when people are being more picky with their spending because of back to school costs. It as this thread should tell, was a bad idea to release it the same weekend as the Expendables which had enough A-list stars to get non-action fans to go see.
It's a movie based off a comic book which is about video game concepts crossing over into real life. Most gamers don't read comic books there is already a disconnect there, but that is already in addition to it already being a niche with mainstream audiences by being a non-marvel non-DC comic book movie staring a not so action-like Michael Cera. A lot of people that would have enjoyed this movie have written it off as another typecast Michael Cera romantic comedy when it's not. So yeah, niche in a niche didn't help, but as I said before, there is plenty of room for them to get back their losses.
I saw Scott Pilgrim vs world.....Was a C+ /Rental. It's pacing for first hour was painfully slow. The trailer summed up the majority of the story that really needed to be said. I was getting rather bored by then, and the action didn't do much for me. I was grateful that some of the evil exs/fights had speedy resolutions such as 5 and 6 were twins as the movie couldn't have taken being drawn out any more than it was.
It makes alot of obscure NES gaming references that will likely fly over most people's heads. (people bursting into coins like river city ransom, the bands are named after NES titles.) I can see how this could be a cult hit, but it's something that likely won't fly with the mainstream audience as it's like a giant inside joke that they just won't get or appreciate. (Such as my girlfriend whom I took with didn't get most of the gaming references, and found the movie equally average as I did.)
Don't quote online sites as "proof" a movie is good. That's just the reviews of people who care enough to post an opinion. Which is really a very small cross section of the world.
If you hate Michael Cera, you will not like him here as he plays the usual awkward dork he always plays. He's probably the least funny part of the movie, and he's unfortunately the title character. (What Brandon"Superman" Routh does made me laugh more in his brief role than Cera does.)
In the end I wouldn't recommend rushing out to see Scott Pilgrim. I'd say rent it. (and fast forward thru the first hour as there's tons of unneeded filler.) It has alot of fun ideas, but the snail pacing really drags down what could been a great film. I will likely go and read the graphic novel as I imagine it's probably more entertaining than the movie was. (and go see the expendables.)
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O RLY?|
Originally Posted by Lastjustice
If you hate Michael Cera, you will not like him here as he plays the usual awkward dork he always plays. He's probably the least funny part of the movie, and he's unfortunately the title character. (What Brandon"Superman" Routh does made me laugh more in his brief role than Cera does.)
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Cause I hated Michael Cera prior to this movie and yet I had no problem with his performance in this.
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Results may vary. I don't have issues with him, but I'd figure most people who hate him would since he basically plays same character here as super bad and Juno. (like how Owen Wilson plays as psuedo new age guru/ surfer dude in every comedy he's been in. ) Give that same character video game based super powers and you have Scott Pilgrim.
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Originally Posted by OzzieArcane
O RLY?
Cause I hated Michael Cera prior to this movie and yet I had no problem with his performance in this. |
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except he doesn't. He completely nailed the selfish egotistical and oblivious personality of Scott Pilgrim, traits that aren't typical of his typecasting in previous films. Especially considering he does martial arts in this film...
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Originally Posted by Lastjustice
Results may vary. I don't have issues with him, but I'd figure most people who hate him would since he basically plays same character here as super bad and Juno. (like how Owen Wilson plays as psuedo new age guru/ surfer dude in every comedy he's been in. ) Give that same character video game based super powers and you have Scott Pilgrim.
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And any so-called "buzz" about it has clearly failed to translate into actual box office numbers - its feeble performance this weekend follows it's disastrous opening weekend, so even "word of mouth" hype on top of "critical praise" is clearly not having an effect.|
Originally Posted by Lastjustice
Don't quote online sites as "proof" a movie is good. That's just the reviews of people who care enough to post an opinion. Which is really a very small cross section of the world.
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The theater chains are getting badly burned by it too - like with all movies, they're under contract to keep it on the same number of screens for a certain number of weeks, regardless of it's performance - so this weekend, even though it made less than half the amount as it did on its opening weekend, it was still on the same number of screens as its opening weekend, so it's been playing to even emptier theaters than on its opening weekend, with the theaters unable to yank it for something popular because of their distribution contract.
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
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Pilgrim bombed despite an ad campaign that bordered on over-saturation. But they still plastered ads everywhere for a property that a tiny niche audience was familiar with, and it wasn't enough to garner interest for non-geeks, nevermind the geeks that may have heard about Pilgrim before the movie but still didn't care.|
Originally Posted by TrueGentleman
Zero penetration in the contradiction in terms that is "the mainstream geekosphere"? Production news for SPvtW blanketed the moviegeek sites from AintItCool and CHUD on down since it was greenlit; the final cut received a standing ovation at Comic Con last month; and O'Malley has won both the Eisner and Harvey awards, among many cartoonists' accolades, for his graphic novel series (which has made best-of lists from Wizard to Entertainment Weekly). If anything, over-saturation is more likely to have contributed to the movie's disappointment at the box office.
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I'm also pretty geeky myself, but when the movie production news started making the rounds, I had Scott Pilgrim mixed up with Barry Ween, and that's why -I- initially blew it off.
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Originally Posted by TrueGentleman
It's entirely possible, of course, that SPvtW will put to rest the received idea that geek culture has truly penetrated the mainstream. The overlap on the Venn diagram between the two may turn out to be much slimmer than expected.
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Tales of Judgment. Also here, instead of that other place.
good luck D.B.B.
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Total gross for Pilgrim so far is a over 21 million worldwide (1 million foreign? Ouch.) after 2 weeks. There was a roughly 50% drop off in gross from the first week to the second. Production budget was 60 million. |
Originally Posted by Turbo_Ski
...On-topic: as dismal as the tickets sales are, universal will probably make up for it in game and dvd/bd sales. Keep in mind that the game was cheaply produced and has sold a lot of copies with promise of more DLC priced updates for fans. Also this is without a doubt a cult classic that is going to make money for years to come even if it continues to bomb in box office sales.
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In an age of falling DVD sales due to Netflix and the like, it'll take those "years to come" of yours for Pilgrim to break even.
Tales of Judgment. Also here, instead of that other place.
good luck D.B.B.
At this stage, it seems like it would have been simpler for the stuido execs who greenlit this bomb to have just gone out into the parking lot and set fire to 20-25 million dollars.
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
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But it's so good. |
Originally Posted by Golden Girl
At this stage, it seems like it would have been simpler for the stuido execs who greenlit this bomb to have just gone out into the parking lot and set fire to 20-25 million dollars.
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Congratulations, Cinema. You finally have your Psychonauts.
A 50% drop from 1st to 2nd week is pretty on par with films nowadays. The Expendables was also down 52.6%, the same as Scott Pilgrim and Eat Pray Love was down 48.1% in their 2nd week.
It also didn't help that there was five new films this weekend. Including two films that also target the teen/young adult market.
Also it ends up on the short end of the stick when you compare it's genres to the other films currently out.
Action - The Expendables, Inception, Salt or Scott Pilgrim?
Romance - Eat Pray Love, The Switch or Scott Pilgrim?
Comedy - The Other Guys, Vampires Suck, Dinner for Schmucks, The Switch or Scott Pilgrim?
Teen/Young Adult - Vampires Suck, Piranha 3D or Scott Pilgrim?
It's a jack of all trades, master of none issue.
Scott Pilgrim will probably bleed off a lot of theaters after week 3, maybe a bit this weekend. This weekend there are three new films, well two and a limited re-release of Avatar, an action/crime movie and another horror flick.
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I was finally able to see this over the weekend. It was... meh. The secondary characters that I loved in the comics were all skimmed over in the movie. The problem there is that Scott's background and real character is revealed through the relationships he had with the people around him; it's no wonder reviewers saw him as a blank slate for the audience to project themselves on. A great deal of the nuance and characterization was lost in this re-interpretation.
I also think Cera's casting for the part was a poor choice. He came across far too insecure while comic book Scott's defining trait was willful ignorance. Coupled with the Cera backlash, he probably did little to aid the movie.
For anyone even slightly interested in the story, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the comics over the movie even if it is a harder medium for some folks to swallow; it's just that much better. The movie did have a few good qualities to it, but they won't be enough to save it.
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SPvtW hasnt received a proper foreign opening yet its barely in release in Australia/New Zealand. At this point, August 25th, when its released in the UK, is the make-or-break date. Edgar Wrights films have always done better in England than America. In the case of his previous one, Hot Fuzz, the UK box office was almost twice as much as the US.
Originally Posted by Agonus
Total gross for Pilgrim so far is a over 21 million worldwide (1 million foreign? Ouch.) after 2 weeks.
The movie will then see rolling openings across Europe for the next two months (no word on Asia). Maybe it will wind up big in Japan
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Heh. I'd rep you for that if we still had it.|
Originally Posted by Golden Girl
At this stage, it seems like it would have been simpler for the stuido execs who greenlit this bomb to have just gone out into the parking lot and set fire to 20-25 million dollars.
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Originally Posted by TrueGentleman
SPvtW hasnt received a proper foreign opening yet its barely in release in Australia/New Zealand. At this point, August 25th, when its released in the UK, is the make-or-break date. Edgar Wrights films have always done better in England than America. In the case of his previous one, Hot Fuzz, the UK box office was almost twice as much as the US. The movie will then see rolling openings across Europe for the next two months (no word on Asia). Maybe it will wind up big in Japan |
Tales of Judgment. Also here, instead of that other place.
good luck D.B.B.
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So he's the character from Super bad with martial arts...yeah that's really showing his range...(rolls eyes.) |
Originally Posted by Turbo_Ski
except he doesn't. He completely nailed the selfish egotistical and oblivious personality of Scott Pilgrim, traits that aren't typical of his typecasting in previous films. Especially considering he does martial arts in this film...
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I tend to agree with this.
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| I also think Cera's casting for the part was a poor choice. He came across far too insecure while comic book Scott's defining trait was willful ignorance. Coupled with the Cera backlash, he probably did little to aid the movie. |
I'd rather seen the guy who played Wallace been Scott Pilgrim than Cera. (he's fine in super bad, but Cera is like white bread. Fine with other ingredients but can't stand alone as there's nothing to keep you wanting more alone.)Cera's performance was flatter than week old soda. He didn't come across as egotistical at all.(like him putting on his stupid hat every time a girl mentioned his hair cut.) Selfish and dense, but not remotely confident. He was insecure as they come.
At no point would you ever see why Ramona would want to be with Scott besides beating up her ex's.(I hate myself for using this analogy, but Scott Pilgrim is like Bella from twilight.*rips off the corner of his mancard.*) You find it hard to believe he's gotten with all women the movie claims as it goes so far to show what a massive loser he is. He has nothing of substance to him and he's incredibly awkward and clueless with girls as all Cera's characters seem to be.
Granted Ramona comes across as a fast woman(as she almost sleeps with him on the first date.) and bit of a Bwitch based off her history with men. (G-man was probably the guy she really deserved as she made the evil exs.) You can understand easily why he'd want to date her initially but once Scott sees her baggage it's a wonder why he'd continue or be in love with a girl he barely knows besides the whole love at first sight/destiny crap. Their relationship ultimately just feels forced compared to Knives who I've seen play out simliarly in real life tons of times, as their interactions felt much more natural.
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Originally Posted by ketch
I was finally able to see this over the weekend. It was... meh. The secondary characters that I loved in the comics were all skimmed over in the movie. The problem there is that Scott's background and real character is revealed through the relationships he had with the people around him; it's no wonder reviewers saw him as a blank slate for the audience to project themselves on. A great deal of the nuance and characterization was lost in this re-interpretation.
I also think Cera's casting for the part was a poor choice. He came across far too insecure while comic book Scott's defining trait was willful ignorance. Coupled with the Cera backlash, he probably did little to aid the movie. For anyone even slightly interested in the story, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the comics over the movie even if it is a harder medium for some folks to swallow; it's just that much better. The movie did have a few good qualities to it, but they won't be enough to save it. |
I agree with your assessment, and look forward to picking up the comic.
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Originally Posted by Marcian Tobay
But it's so good.
Congratulations, Cinema. You finally have your Psychonauts. |
The movie started winning me back in the second half, but it was too little too late. Based off the trailers you'd expected a high energy over the top movie. Not a unfunny/boring rom-com that attempts to transform into a high energy over the top movie at the end. I was expecting something closer to kick *** as thats how you do it right. This might not been the property for that since I have not read the graphic novel. But as a stand alone experience it fails to deliever what the trailer promised till waaay too late into the whole experience. I really felt the potential for something great...but it never got there. And I got all the references it made.
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I thought that, too, until I realized that the entire point of the movie is that Scott Pilgrim is learning what is wrong with him and what needs to change for him to be a worthy person. In Twilight, much like The Little Mermaid, Bella/Ariel is wrong and flawed, but the universe seems to make everything all right for her, as if she's at a dinner part with Time, Meaning, Rhyme, and Reason and Meaning seems to polite to point out that she's using the Salad Fork... for soup.
| At no point would you ever see why Ramona would want to be with Scott besides beating up her ex's.(I hate myself for using this analogy, but Scott Pilgrim is like Bella from twilight.*rips off the corner of his mancard.*) |
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interesting thoght you may have uncovered here. you know what you know, but just watch the trailer..does it appear that it will be like that? Now, I am simply tossing this out there, but perhaps one reason people who know scott p's twist see it as a multi layered comedy, romance action film, but those who dont see the ad and just see a kind of silly action film. Now having delved into spoilers myself, i know that post twist, the movie is entirely up my psychological alley, though i was sold on it even when i thought it was a silly video game fight fantasy, but perhaps absent of knowledge of the deeper and more interesting characterizations that cast a lot of characters in a light that is a but more unflattering than one may assume for the protagonist and his love interest, people are not being fully informed of the depth and really think it may just be a nerd kung fu movie. I certainly am not claiming any special knowledge on the topic, but it does certainly seem to be a plausible possibility, that its marketing has failed to capture the actual reason that fans are so adamant about it. |
Originally Posted by Marcian Tobay
I thought that, too, until I realized that the entire point of the movie is that Scott Pilgrim is learning what is wrong with him and what needs to change for him to be a worthy person. In Twilight, much like The Little Mermaid, Bella/Ariel is wrong and flawed, but the universe seems to make everything all right for her, as if she's at a dinner part with Time, Meaning, Rhyme, and Reason and Meaning seems to polite to point out that she's using the Salad Fork... for soup.
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I'm probably seeing it this friday, i suspect i will like it, so o'malley can at least count on my ticket.
EDIT: nevermind, all the local theaters dropped it.
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Ughhhh. I will just never understand this mentality.|
Originally Posted by Golden Girl
I and 3 friends went to "Vampires Suck" this weekend - not because we thought it was going to be anything other than trash - but beacuse it's fun to mock how bad these kinds of movies are.
Two of them play console games, and the other one is a hardcore Trekie - none of them had the slightest interest in seeing "Scott Pilgrim". |
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Originally Posted by ketch
I was finally able to see this over the weekend. It was... meh. The secondary characters that I loved in the comics were all skimmed over in the movie. The problem there is that Scott's background and real character is revealed through the relationships he had with the people around him; it's no wonder reviewers saw him as a blank slate for the audience to project themselves on. A great deal of the nuance and characterization was lost in this re-interpretation.
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I also think Cera's casting for the part was a poor choice. He came across far too insecure while comic book Scott's defining trait was willful ignorance. Coupled with the Cera backlash, he probably did little to aid the movie. For anyone even slightly interested in the story, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the comics over the movie even if it is a harder medium for some folks to swallow; it's just that much better. The movie did have a few good qualities to it, but they won't be enough to save it. |
Besides, who would you suggest otherwise? I've come to terms with Cera being the most obvious choice for SP. He even has the Canadian-thing down!
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Originally Posted by TrueGentleman
SPvtW hasn’t received a proper foreign opening yet – it’s barely in release in Australia/New Zealand. At this point, August 25th, when it’s released in the UK, is the make-or-break date. Edgar Wright’s films have always done better in England than America. In the case of his previous one, Hot Fuzz, the UK box office was almost twice as much as the US. The movie will then see rolling openings across Europe for the next two months (no word on Asia). Maybe it will wind up big in Japan… |
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Originally Posted by Lastjustice
I'd rather seen the guy who played Wallace been Scott Pilgrim than Cera. (he's fine in super bad, but Cera is like white bread. Fine with other ingredients but can't stand alone as there's nothing to keep you wanting more alone.)Cera's performance was flatter than week old soda. He didn't come across as egotistical at all.(like him putting on his stupid hat every time a girl mentioned his hair cut.) Selfish and dense, but not remotely confident. He was insecure as they come.
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At no point would you ever see why Ramona would want to be with Scott besides beating up her ex's.(I hate myself for using this analogy, but Scott Pilgrim is like Bella from twilight.*rips off the corner of his mancard.*) You find it hard to believe he's gotten with all women the movie claims as it goes so far to show what a massive loser he is. He has nothing of substance to him and he's incredibly awkward and clueless with girls as all Cera's characters seem to be. Granted Ramona comes across as a fast woman(as she almost sleeps with him on the first date.) and bit of a Bwitch based off her history with men. (G-man was probably the guy she really deserved as she made the evil exs.) You can understand easily why he'd want to date her initially but once Scott sees her baggage it's a wonder why he'd continue or be in love with a girl he barely knows besides the whole love at first sight/destiny crap. Their relationship ultimately just feels forced compared to Knives who I've seen play out simliarly in real life tons of times, as their interactions felt much more natural. |
PRO-TIP: In an early script, Scott and Knives end up together. The movie still feels like that is the way it is leading (Scott checks to see how Knives is doing after the fight with Gideon before he checks on Ramon), and takes a sudden swerve.
I would have been fine if Scott had ended up with either Knives or Kim Pine (though there would have needed to have been much more development and flashbacks into Kim's character to validate that ending).
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| I agree with your assessment, and look forward to picking up the comic. |
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Originally Posted by rian_frostdrake
interesting thoght you may have uncovered here. you know what you know, but just watch the trailer..does it appear that it will be like that? Now, I am simply tossing this out there, but perhaps one reason people who know scott p's twist see it as a multi layered comedy, romance action film, but those who dont see the ad and just see a kind of silly action film. Now having delved into spoilers myself, i know that post twist, the movie is entirely up my psychological alley, though i was sold on it even when i thought it was a silly video game fight fantasy, but perhaps absent of knowledge of the deeper and more interesting characterizations that cast a lot of characters in a light that is a but more unflattering than one may assume for the protagonist and his love interest, people are not being fully informed of the depth and really think it may just be a nerd kung fu movie. I certainly am not claiming any special knowledge on the topic, but it does certainly seem to be a plausible possibility, that its marketing has failed to capture the actual reason that fans are so adamant about it.
I'm probably seeing it this friday, i suspect i will like it, so o'malley can at least count on my ticket. |
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| I thought that, too, until I realized that the entire point of the movie is that Scott Pilgrim is learning what is wrong with him and what needs to change for him to be a worthy person. In Twilight, much like The Little Mermaid, Bella/Ariel is wrong and flawed, but the universe seems to make everything all right for her, as if she's at a dinner part with Time, Meaning, Rhyme, and Reason and Meaning seems to polite to point out that she's using the Salad Fork... for soup. |
I think the movie kind of rushes that (it's all within the "1-Up" scene without much build-up. Still, it's a great message and I prefer it to the opposing option that Marcian mentioned.
Thanks for eight fun years, Paragon.
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I can enjoy a lousy film like Wing commander and reign of fire when I can spend the next hour or two mocking it with my friends afterwards. It's a way to salvage what otherwise would been a bad night.| Ughhhh. I will just never understand this mentality. |
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I definitely agree. Unfortunately, you've got people like Lastjustice complaining that the movie was too long, so they really couldn't spend the time to further develop those concepts. |
They needed either add more depth or cut down. Where they left it just didn't work. I didn't have anything to fill in the blanks. (like say when I watched Watchmen I could fill in blanks for where the movie dropped the ball.) I lacked any backstory beyond the trailer.
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Let us know what you think of the comic. |
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| I thought that, too, until I realized that the entire point of the movie is that Scott Pilgrim is learning what is wrong with him and what needs to change for him to be a worthy person. |
I was fine with him redeeming himself as he clearly needed to.
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PRO-TIP: In an early script, Scott and Knives end up together. The movie still feels like that is the way it is leading (Scott checks to see how Knives is doing after the fight with Gideon before he checks on Ramon), and takes a sudden swerve. I would have been fine if Scott had ended up with either Knives or Kim Pine (though there would have needed to have been much more development and flashbacks into Kim's character to validate that ending). |
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Dunno the level of detail you're looking for, but boxofficemojo.com lists pretty up-to-date foreign grosses for movies with a couple different breakdowns.
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Originally Posted by ChrisMoses
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This is what I'm banking on. This weekend to see how it does in Europe. If someone has it, I would appreciate a good global box office tracking website. ... |
Tales of Judgment. Also here, instead of that other place.
good luck D.B.B.
Maybe if they'd promoted it better, it might not have been a box office disaster?
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork