Why do you like this movie?
Because I thought it was awful. I thought the fight scenes were done well but there were no redeeming factors other than that. It was like they were going for weird and unappealing on purpose.
shareI liked it because I thought it was funny, creative, and it made references to pop culture and music that I've grown up with and love. It worked for me, although I think the graphic novel series is a lot better.
Cynicism is easy.
The better question for the OP is: why DIDN'T you like it?
A crackerjack cast, witty, rapid-fire dialogue, and nonstop visual inventiveness give this film an excitement and an energy practically unmatched in this entire DECADE's output of dull, monochromatic "superhero" fare. The movie is very, very funny, and the style of the picture successfully combines the sweetness and charm of a youth/romantic comedy with the crackle and rush of playing your favorite video games. The characters in SP are smart and talented (despite their protests to the contrary) and the movie makes no effort to dumb them down for "the masses".
Agreed with everything posted here by Troydani.
It's a sad state of affairs when people who hate this movie have one thing in common: They literally think everything that happens on screen is happening in the real world and not in Scott's immature imagination.
I love the movie but I don't see your line of reasoning. You are turning it into a psychological drama - and for what purpose? So what if 'it all happens in Scott's mind?' How does that change things? It makes it more simply a bizarre exercise about a warped mind rather than about a fight to earn self-respect, which is the final power Scott earns.
Remember, the key parts of the ending is (1) Scott earning the Power of Love, but that alone was not enough to save him. He finally had to (2) apologize to Kim, and then (3) admit that he was not fighting 'for Ramona,' but for himself.
Gideon: You want to fight me for her?
Scott: No, I want to fight you for me.
I'm just looking at it from my own angle, personally, and trying to rationalize how the obvious over the top stuff could actually happen given the real world setting. I have read the graphic novels as well and it kind of helps solidify where the movie is coming from in a way.
The endings differ, for sure, but the message is the same. Scott learns to respect himself but that doesn't mean he can't still day dream about it. That's kind of how I took most of the confrontations in the novels and movie, that everything we are shown is happening in Scott's subconscious or mind where in the real world things would be playing out much less dramatic.
Though this is all me just personally how I see the movie and where people seem to hate it come from, that "it can't happen in the real world" mentality. I mean how many of us haven't fantasized about being the hero of our own lives?