At the Movies with Peter Travers: ‘Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World’
In this edition of At the Movies, Rolling Stone‘s Peter Travers praises “the ultimate comic book video game movie”: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. The highly anticipated Scott Pilgrim stars Michael Cera as a Toronto twenty-something who must battle, in true graphic-novel style, the seven ex-boyfriends of his new love Ramona Flowers, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead. The performances here are a blast: Jason Schartzmann as Romana’s evil ex Gideon, Kieran Culkin playing Pilgrim’s scene-stealing gay roommate, and Up in the Air‘s Anna Kendrick as his sassy sister. Director Edgar Wright, who helmed cult favorites Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, scores again bringing this comic book to the big screen. “It’s a love story that works, which is rare for summer,” Travers says.
But there’s still a good helping of Scum Bucket flicks at the movies this summer. Despite boasting an all-star action cast of Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and pretty much every muscled-up actor to ever feature in an action film, The Expendables suffers from atrocious dialogue and action sequences that “look like crap.” Nostalgia for the golden age of action films might lure cinemagoers to Expendables, but Travers recommends you sit home and watch Die Hard instead. Also new this weekend: Eat Pray Love, starring Julia Roberts and based on the bestselling memoir. To hear Travers’ Take on the rom-com, check out the video above.
This Week’s Reviews: