"Scott, if your life had a face, I would punch it."
Advertised as "An epic of epic epicness", Scott Pilgrim is in many ways the definative romance for the Twitter generation, a demographic raised on 8-bit videogames, grungy indie-rock and ironic slacking. It somewhat saddens me that few people born before the mid-seventies will find anything to appreciate in this film, but for anyone younger than that, who appreciates comics, videogames and hipster culture (although if you hate hipsters, the film mocks the culture almost as much as it glorifies it), I'd call it a must-see.
Based on a series of manga-style graphic novels by Brian Lee O'Malley, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World tells the story of its titular protagonist (Michael Cera), an affably selfish 22-year old slacker living in Toronto who passes his time playing in a garage band called Sex Bob-omb and hanging out with a variety of friends, enemies and acquaintences. His safe rebound relationship with a 17 year old fangirl named Knives Chau (Ellen Wong) is interrupted when he meets Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), an impossibly cool punk-hipster goddess from America with a mysterious past and a knack for dating assholes. In order to win her heart (and the Toronto International Battle of the Bands), Scott must defeat the combined forces of Ramona's Seven Evil Exes.
With it's sprawlingly realistic cast and decidedly unrealistic aesthetic (which includes videogame style fights, surrealist dreams and musical sequences), the Scott Pilgrim series would appear to be a nightmare for anyone attempting to adapt it into a 100 minute movie. It's a testament to the skills of Edgar Wright (director of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) that he is able to compress these elements and characters into something satisfying and unique with what appears to be minimal effort (although I'm sure it wasn't easy). The running time seems to fly by, but every single frame is packed with visual gags, background action and rapid-fire dialogue which (as a fan of the comic) left me feeling as though nothing had been left out. Much like Shaun of the Dead, with its repeated dialogue, numerous asides and machine gun editing, Scott Pilgrim overwhelms its viewers in such a way that leaves them wanting more.
My biggest concern going into this film was Michael Cera, who seems to be wearing out his welcome among audiences, who tend to complain that he can only play one character (no one seemed to care about this until recently; was Clint Eastwood's eighth movie playing an unstoppable badass any less enjoyable than the seventh?), and I will admit that to being worried that Cera's natural patheticness would clash with Scott's unwarrented, overblown confidence. While this did happen, Cera did manage to portray Scott's trademark cluelessness to a tee, and in the end, trading his bravado for self-doubt goes a long way to helping the audience sympathize with a character that is, quite simply, kind of a shithead.
Wright also gets props for assembling a hell of a cast for Scott to (sometimes literally) bounce off of, starting with the beautiful Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who manages to make Ramona magnetic despite her constant aloofness and tendencies toward bitchiness. Major stand-outs include Kieran Culkin as Wallace, Scott's laid-back gay roommate who dispenses advice and snark without ever falling into camp gay stereotypes, and Ellen Wong as Knives, Scott's besmirched young ex-girlfriend, who perfectly walks the line between adorable, annoying and creepy. Also excellent are the slew of one-scene wonders that make up the League of Evil Exes, including Chris Evans as Lucas Lee, a uber-douche movie star, Brandon Routh as Todd Ingram, a dim-witted telekinetic vegan bass player and Mae Whitman as Roxy Richter a 'bi-furious', bad-pun-spouting ninja. My only complaint was the sidelining of Kim Pine, the deadpan drummer of Sex Bob-omb, who's tangled romantic history with Scott (one of my favorite aspects of the book) was cut from the film. Also major props for getting the characters to look exactly like their comic counterparts when O'Malley only ever draws that one anime face.
The other major draw of the film is its style, which cribs from comics, manga and old school video games. From the 8-bit version of the Universal theme, to Scott leveling up throughout the movie and enemies bursting into bunches of coins, the film contains a slew of gags and references for both casual and hardcore gamers. The film also gets an A for fight sequences, which are both creative and well-staged, with (as far as I can tell) the actors doing all their own fighting and stunts. Each of the seven fights is its own, driving the story forward and never feeling repetitive.
The soundtrack doesn't disappoint either, featuring several notable indie artists as the fictional bands within the film (Beck as Sex Bob-omb, Metric as The Clash at Demonhead and Broken Social Scene as Crash and the Boys). While Beck is a bit more talented than I would imagine Sex Bob-omb to be, all the songs are extremely catchy (especially the Metric song) and give the film another dimension of authenticity and enjoyment.
I feel pretty unapologetic for the fact that this review is completely one-sided. I would say that, along with Inception, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is one of the few movies worth your time during what has otherwise been a pretty lackluster summer. Even if you haven't read the books, I'd strongly recommend this to anyone who thinks they might be interested.
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