Rating 2.0/5

There must be some sort of faux horror documentary guidebook on the market that director of The Last Exorcism, Daniel Stamm got his hands on, because this film feels so very familiar. Much like The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity before it, the film starts very slowly, gets mildly interesting during the mid-point and starts to pick up steam at the end before ending abruptly. The reason that this film isn’t likely to be as widely praised as the aforementioned two is because it just feels like a retread.

When The Blair Witch Project came out, the marketing for it was ingenious. For a good while, people were convinced that they had just witnessed a documentary gone terribly wrong. This effect dwindled by the time of Paranormal Activity last year, but even so, the demand for the film and the reputation it acquired created such a buzz that no one really cared that they weren’t watching a real documentary. It was an event that people didn’t want to feel excluded from. In the case of The Last Exorcism, it has no gimmick and no catch. It’s not as though it’s terrible by comparison to other films in the sub genre, but it feels as though it arrived too late and without enough flare to cause a stir.

Patrick Fabian plays Cotton Marcus,  a smarmy minister that clearly doesn’t believe in what he’s preaching. He started young and treats religion as a business. He gets a lot of emails and letters from people requesting that he perform an exorcism for them. He doesn’t buy into the concept of demonic possession for a minute, but he certainly doesn’t mind making a decent buck off of those that do. Shortly after the film begins, Cotton gets a letter from a family that needs his services. He hops into a van with some sort of camera crew that have been following him around for a bit and gets ready to start production on yet another fake exorcism.

It should come as no surprise that the one time that Cotton hires a camera crew is the one time that the exorcism call he goes out on doesn’t end up being bogus. Ashley Bell plays Nell, the possessed girl and she’s not half bad. She’s home-schooled by her father, Louis (Louis Herthum) and really plays up the shy, sheltered girl quite well. She really seems like the type of girl who you’d meet in a small town and avoid messing with because of her religious fanatic of a father. Especially considering that the she lives in the States where not only would her religious father make you feel quite uncomfortable at dinner, he would likely own a gun collection that he’s just itching to get some proper use out of.

The biggest problem with this movie is that it doesn’t do much to stand out. There aren’t really any memorable scenes. Some people may see the word “exorcism” in the title and have high hopes of crosses being used in a very inappropriate manner or sex talk with a man of God. You don’t really get that here. What you do get is a moderately compelling story, some good acting, a few pop out scares and a less than satisfying ending. It’s one of those endings that wants to be shocking, but will likely have the audience saying “that’s it?” It definitely feels like there could have been a few more minutes attached to the ending sequence. Sometimes abrupt endings are eerie, but it didn’t work out in this case. It’s more of a downer.

This film is a prime example of how a bad ending can affect a person’s entire opinion. It’s one of those endings where you kind of want to look over to your date and apologize. It’s like, “I’m sorry that I completely ignored your suggestion and now we’re sitting here with premature credits.” It’s a bit awkward for sure and kind of resembles a situation that could happen later on in the evening. The Last Exorcism should appeal to horror fans that are really dying for something to see in theatres, but it’s lucky that it didn’t have very stiff competition. It’s kind of like the prettiest girl in a small town. By default, hook up with it.

Written by Andrew-Patrick Weymes

Rating 2.5/5

Though it’s based on the comic book of the same name, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World doesn’t require you to have knowledge of its origins in order to enjoy it. If anything, this is a film that will likely find a massive following among the current generation of gamers out there. Nearly everything about this movie is reminiscent of games like No More Heroes, The Legend of Zelda and so on. There’s even a Nintendo DS present every now and then with Zelda music blaring through the speakers. Without a doubt, if you’re a gamer, it’s going to be hard to completely hate this one.

All that being said, with this movie being so rooted in the realm of gaming, it sometimes feels as though it’s a long running video game cutscene that absolutely refuses to cut to the actual gameplay. Another way of putting it is that it’s like watching your friend play a really awesome looking game. Sure, it’s fun for a while, but repetitive over-the-top action can only entertain for so long until you want to get out of your seat and wander around a bit. There’s a lot of charm to be found in this movie. If the film were a guy and you the viewer were a woman, it would likely charm the pants right off of you and possibly impregnate you before you knew what happened. The problem is, Scott Pilgrim, the father in this analogy lacks substance and sustainability. He very well may end up being a dead beat dad.

Story wise it’s unique, but at the same time very predictable. Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a 20-something year old man who lives with his gay roommate, Wallace (Kieran Culkin) and for some reason, they can’t afford a separate bed. Wallace is getting action every night and apparently, Scott just has to put up with it and keep quiet. Perhaps to quell the homoerotic thoughts he’s been having, Scott likes to practice a lot with his band, Sex Bob-Omb and go on dates with a 17 year old girl that he’s become fond of, Knives Chau. (Ellen Wong)

Life’s pretty standard for Scott until he goes to a party one evening and meets Ramona Flowers who is played by the noticeably tall Mary Elizabeth Winstead. There’s nothing wrong with a tall woman mind you, but it’s just funny watching her tower over nearly every man in the film. Scott falls for her nearly instantly, but the catch is that if he’s serious about dating her, he’s going to have to defeat her seven evil ex’s. That’s no easy task, especially for the less than imposing Scott. In the world of this film, realism goes right out the window. Each time Scott defeats an ex, they burst into Canadian coins and he receives a boost in the score of his life presumably.

If you’re familiar with director Edgar Wright’s previous films such as Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, the over-the-top action in this one shouldn’t come as a surprise to you. It’s absolutely nonsensical. People are swinging giant sledgehammers the size of their bodies, skateboarding at 150 MPH and summoning giant musical dragons. Things definitely get out of control. That’s the main charm of this movie, however. No one can accuse it of taking itself too seriously. It’s breezy, it’s silly and it’s funny for the most part. Michael Cera doesn’t really deviate from his standard acting style in this one, but that’s not necessarily a complaint. His delivery is good and one bit with him inappropriately mentioning lesbians is gold.

Much like Sin City and movies before it, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World has a very unique visual style that separates it from the crowd. It looks like retro video games and comics have invaded the real world. This style is such a breath of fresh air that it may be enough for some people to overlook the simple story telling and the excess of action scenes that grow a bit dull and even downright stupid at times. Perhaps it’s the PG rating or the lack of Simon Pegg, but this film doesn’t quite live up to the aforementioned work of Edgar Wright. It’s so vastly different from other films out there that it’s definitely worth seeing, but it may be a little too juvenile for some older gamers that are trying to age with dignity.

Written by Andrew Patrick Weymes