Scott Pilgrim vs. The World – Review
Perhaps the definitive movie of the ’00s.
I honestly believe that Scott Pilgrim vs. The World will be a defining film of the aughts. Sure, the movie is actually being released in 2010 — a year technically no longer part of that yet-to-be definitively named decade. It is, however, based on a series of graphic novels, the first of which was published in 2004.
The movie itself is a wonderful encapsulation of this generation’s pop culture — its music, its entertainment and its sense of humor. Director Edgar Wright’s film has successfully captured this moment of time in today’s youth in the same way that American Graffiti did with the ‘50s, Dazed and Confused did with the ‘70s and Clueless did with the ‘90s.
It’s only fitting that the film, like today’s pop culture, is seeped in nostalgia for a childhood long gone. From the film’s opening shot of a pixilated Universal logo as an 8-bit version of the studio’s theme plays, Wright clearly establishes what kind of movie he intends Scott Pilgrim to be.
The movie masterfully bounces back and forth between being a loving tribute to the NES and Mountain Dew-soaked days of an ‘80s childhood and championing of a style yet to come. Wright, who has simultaneously honored and reinvented the zombie and action genres with his pervious film Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, establishes himself as a cutting edge director with a fresh perspective. With Scott Pilgrim, Wright quickly makes it known that he is somebody worth watching for the long haul— a filmmaker who seems capable of doing no wrong.
In Scott Pilgrim, Michael Cera plays the title character, a hapless musician who is recovering from heartbreak by dating a high school girl. He is pleased with his life — content with his status even if that status is being constantly broke and directionless.
That all changes when he meets Ramona Flowers, a roller skate sporting girl with bright colored hair who jets out of his dreams and into his life — literally. Shocked to discover the girl that has been haunting his dreams is in fact real and in the same social circle as himself, Scott finds a direction for his life — winning over the somewhat moody and aloof Ramona.
It isn’t just her cold shoulder that Scott must conquer if he wants to date Ramona, though. To win the happy future he envisions with her, Scott will have to defeat her seven evil exes — a gang of superpowered asshats who are all too ready to beat Scott into the ground with a series of mulit-hit combos and energy blasts.
Scott Pilgrim is high on energy and dense in details. Wright fills nearly every single frame of the film with easter eggs, visual gags and funny little asides. High octane does not begin to describe the frantic MTV-style editing Wright provides for his action scenes — and I mean that in a good way.
While lately, comparing a film’s editing to MTV means quick, emotionless cuts that are designed to hide a lack of visual style, when I compare Scott Pilgrim to MTV I am talking about the early days of the music channel when every ounce of the programming was lovingly stuff with hipness and fun — like a trendy turducken.
Scott Pilgrim is what would happen if somebody took every single thing that was fun and interesting about being a geek in the last ten years, shoved it in a blender and served it in a tall glass of kick ass. The movie is witty, charming and just the right amount of cute.
While Michael Cera’s insistence of playing the same character in the last half dozen movies he’s been in can get a bit annoying at times, he really uses his disarming quirkiness to good effect in Scott Pilgrim. Cera is soft spoken, helplessly geeky and the perfect representation of the modern hipster — in a totally non-annoying way, of course.
In the role of Scott’s dream girl, Mary Elizabeth Winstead is aloof, unbearably hip and perfectly cute in that way Zooey Deschanel has made a living playing in role after role in the last ten years. Winstead isn’t given much to work with in the film — a few action scenes but not a lot of comedy — but she easily elevates the role from what was on the page. With her big eyes and expressive face, audiences will have no problem seeing why a character like Scott could fall head over feet in love with her — lending a believability to his later misadventures repeatedly getting his ass kicked in the name of love.
The rest of the cast is all top-notch — a fine assembly of some of the best young actors working today, Wright filled every nook and cranny of his film with talent and the end result shows.
Scott Pilgrim is probably just about the most fun you will have in theaters this year. As fresh and exciting as The Matrix was nearly ten years ago but with the disarming attitude of a Saturday morning cartoon and the unpredictability of a good mix tape, Scott Pilgrim is a movie worth seeing. Probably even worth seeing twice.
I know I will be.
Great review
I know I will be seeing it more than once as well!