So goes a heap of criticism hurled at Edgar Wright’s hipster-drenched comic book adaptation, “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.”  Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), a mousy, disinterested, sarcastic early twenty-something hipster, is the bassist for the self-aware and self-proclaimed awful garage band, Sex Bob-omb.  He represents the shifting romantic zeitgeist from macho, leather jacket-wearing, beer can-crushing types to sensitive, artistic, pseudo-intellectuals who know a thing or two about fashion — or at least live close enough to an American Apparel to keep up with the latest indie trends.

Cera, who would’ve been laughed at as a romantic lead as recently as a decade ago, plays something of a heartthrob.  There is scarcely a shoe-gazing damsel in his extended social network who hasn’t felt the power of Scott Pilgrim’s irresistible dry wit and boyish charm.  After his most recent breakup he’s even resorted to tapping the high school dating pool, hooking up with a hopelessly naive 17-year-old, Knives, who worships the ground he walks on.  This type of devotion from a too-young rebound girlfriend is a bore.  It takes the withdrawn gaze of Ramona Flowers, the new kid in town and possibly the coolest girl in the world, to get Pilgrim’s amorous juices flowing.  But before these two can commence their too-cool-for-school courtship, Scott must fight and defeat Ramona’s seven evil exes in fantastical, video game-style mortal combat.

Why?  A symbology detailing the seemingly insurmountable obstacles facing modern, post-sexual revolution relationships seems to be the common interpretation of these well-choreographed, often hilarious battles.  That may very well have been the intention, but I think the film is a helluva lot more fun without the psycho-analytical subtext.  Whether these prolonged fights to the death are meant to be going on in Pilgrim’s mind or in the new reality of the video game age is irrelevant, as far I’m concerned.  They’re funny.  Very funny.

“Scott Pilgrim” may just be the movie to convert Michael Cera skeptics.  The 22-year-old actor is despised by some for his over-reliance on blank stares and barely audible mumbles.  His loose association with indie culture enrages others.  But his performance here, while not as wildly different from his previous roles, a la Daniel Day-Lewis, is still recognizably a unique and separate characterization.  Compared to roles like he had in “Juno” Michael Cera has grown leaps and bounds as an actor.

Ubiquitous video game references, including music directly from popular titles, 8-bit sight gags, villains transforming into coins upon defeat and even the use of an extra life when the going gets a little too tough, would have normally annoyed this critic to no end.  When Uwe Boll cut away to actual video game screen shots in “House of the Dead” (2003), giving up on film altogether didn’t seem like such a bad option.  But the way Wright unabashedly, skillfully and quite sincerely incorporates the general culture of gaming and comics into film just works.  It’s exciting, funny — even graceful.

No, today’s youth culture doesn’t stand fast and defiant for any particular cause, but is that such a bad thing?

“Fantastic Mr. Fox,” based on Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book, is Anderson’s fifth feature film and his first comprised entirely of stop-motion animation, an unimaginably painstaking process whereby clay models are photographed, altered ever so slightly, then photographed again ad infinitum until the images are strung together to create a motion picture.  The effect is charming, nostalgic and feels oddly more like a Wes Anderson creation than any of his previous films, with the exception of the brilliantly designed “The Royal Tenenbaums.”  The ever-quivering fur, the side-scrolling cinematography and the idiosyncratic movements of the characters culminate in the most obsessively detail-oriented cinematic creation in years.  Notorious for his implacable perfectionism, Anderson finally does away with pesky human actors that only complicate his vision in favor of an entirely malleable universe that allows him to control literally everything and everyone inside.

What human actors he does work with, however, turn in stellar voice-over performances.  George Clooney’s distinctive smooth baritone blends seamlessly into the cocksure persona of the suave Mr. Fox.  Jason Schwartzman delivers a mumble-core stew of insecurity and hilarious one-liners as his neglected son who just wants to be an athlete.  Bill Murray’s pragmatic Badger is perfectly cast as Mr. Fox’s lawyer/demolitions expert.  And the indomitable Willem Dafoe sports yet another comically indeterminate foreign accent for Anderson as Rat, the mysterious security agent employed by one of the ugly farmers.

But as important aesthetic is to Anderson, it’s not everything.  Although sometimes accused of favoring style over substance, the auteur’s unique and diverse body of work is almost always oscillating at some finely tuned, nuanced frequency of human emotion.  Humanity has a habit of emerging triumphant in Anderson’s films, and “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is no different.  The importance of family, no matter how dysfunctional, is the theme that eventually supersedes the cheeky narrative of a sly fox stealing chickens for kicks.

Score: 5/5

Having ascended the ranks like a rocket without plans for reentry, comedian George Simmons (Adam Sandler), once a respected and innovative master of the art of stand-up, has been artistically corrupted by his immense commercial success.  His edgy, anti-establishment, comedic war on the status quo waged in the dank, scuzzy comedy clubs and bars of Nowhere, USA, has given way to the banality of broad, profit-driven, family-friendly comedy.  That is the paradox — fame and fortune often bring derision and irrelevance. Without a major course correction, Simmons likely would have slowly faded into lonely, wealthy oblivion, his early work all but forgotten. Luckily, he’s diagnosed with cancer and tries to get back to his bread and butter before his time expires.

Along for the ride is Ira Wright (Seth Rogen), an up-and-coming comedian with a sharp wit, but a less than perfect delivery.  Simmons hires Ira to write some jokes for the ailing star’s return to the stand-up circuit, and a burgeoning friendship quickly develops.  We spend much time with the two comedians, at opposite ends of the spectrum of success, and the lachrymose-tinged interplay between Rogen and Sandler is genuine, enjoyable, and often hilarious.

Wright splits his time between talking Simmons to sleep every night and hanging out with his struggling, comedian roommates played by Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman.  The exchanges between the latter provide effective splashes of comic relief from the often melancholy mood of the lonesome, echoing halls of Simmons’ mansion.  The best gag in the movie comes from Schwartzman’s character, a pompous D-list actor who revels in his starring role as a hip high school teacher helping urban kids appreciate the “raps” of Shakespeare on a daytime TV series called “Yo Teach!”

Though, as mentioned, Apatow runs into a myriad of problems in the telling of this personal story.  The compelling setup where we learn the ins and outs of life as a comic, the dangers of unmitigated commercial success, and the superficiality of opportunistic celebrity friendships is largely nullified by the meandering, directionless, self-indulgent third act.  There is no real character arc for Simmons, and the payoff is wholly unearned.  And, although the subject matter delves deeper, and the characters more fully realized than his previous efforts, Apatow can’t seem to cull the same from his comedic writing.  Penis jokes reign supreme, drowning out the flashes of brilliance in gags like “Yo Teach!”  Subtlety, that elusive storytelling skill that made the late, great John Hughes such a comedic force, has not yet been mastered by Apatow.

Nonetheless, the film manages to somehow remain affable, like the neighborhood kid that unwittingly chucks a baseball through your front window.  You try your best to be mad, but you know it wasn’t on purpose — his clumsiness and awkward innocence contributing to his likability.  There’s an astute, fully realized dramatic comedy lurking somewhere beneath Apatow’s persistent juvenility.  “Funny People” is not that film, but it’s enough to hold us over until its arrival.

(Score: 3.5/5)

Director: Wes Anderson
Writer: Wes Anderson
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Cast: George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray

Release: November 13, 2009