In Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, a flashy, video-gamey film based on the Scott Pilgrim comic series written by Toronto’s Bryan Lee O’Malley, the titular character discovers that he’ll have to fight for his own life to win the heart of the girl he loves.
Being involuntarily forced to leave his ordinary life behind, Scott Pilgrim soon finds himself facing an entire league of evil exes and he’ll need to defeat them all to be with Ramona Flowers, the girl of his dreams.
Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) directs, and he really manages to juggle through genres well – from comedy to action to romance. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World pulls them all off with excellent results.
The main cast is made up of Arrested Development’s Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim, horror “scream queen” Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona Flowers, This Is Wonderland’s Ellen Wong as Knives Chau and The Cider House Rules’ Kieran Culkin as Scott’s gay roommate Wallace Wells.
In addition to these actors, the film also features The Losers’ Chris Evans as evil-ex Lucas Lee, Up in the Air’s Anna Kendrick as sister Stacey Pilgrim, Milk’s Alison Pill as drummer Kim Pine, Superman Returns’ Brandon Routh as Todd Ingram, and Fantastic Mr. Fox’s Jason Schwartzman as Gideon Gordon Graves.
Overall, the cast is very solid, but I have to give Cera special mention for dishing out his best performance since Arrested Development.
The effects in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World are what will stick with most people. By seamlessly combining computer and practical effects, the film feels just like a comic book. It gives the movie a very unique look and it definitely stands out from other movies that try to look as realistic as possible.
Scott Pilgrim’s humour is very entertaining as well, though it may be less so for those who aren’t familiar with video games, comics and other such generally geeky topics addressed in the film. Even so, the film is in no way simply pandering to one demographic and, even if you don’t enjoy the humour, it still has plenty of heart and frenetic action for your enjoyment.
Overall, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a very enjoyable and very experimental film. The film’s tagline sure wasn’t exaggerating when it called this one an epic. It garners an 8 out of 10 for being one of the most enjoyable times I’ve had at a movie theatre in some time.
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