Perhaps I've been too negative recently, and it's been hard to impress me. Maybe you'd just prefer me ranting, or perhaps you'd prefer to see a more positive review. I admit, my DVD reviews at the moment are tough - wait till you get to Pathology (2007), that'll be a doozy - but instead I think I'll cap my review of the summer with this, the ultimate hymn to all things geek.
First things first, this may not be your kind of film. It does have a fairly specific audience i.e young men in their 20s-30s who basically grew up with all of the trappings with which Scott surrounds himself. Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a young Canadian slacker-type, who plays lead guitar in a band and is less than clueless about his effect on the people around him. His band isn't great, and his bandmates clearly resent how his personal life has an effect on everything they do. He has a 17 year old Chinese girlfriend, Knives Chow (Ellen Wong) who he obviously has no real feelings for, and spends his time complaining to everyone about the complications of life. Everything of course gets immensely complicated when he falls for a girl called Ramona (Mary-Elizabeth Winstead) and finds she has seven evil exes, whom he must fight for the right to continue with Ramona. The film's structure is rather brilliantly like an arcade game, treating each fight like a boss fight from an old NES game. The film even opens with a 16-bit version of the Universal logo; it's all rather fantastic visual stuff from director Edgar Wright (yes, of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz fame), a man who understands visuals AND characters. In this case, they are all part of the same aesthetic. Scott sees his world like a videogame, and consequently, everything in it behaves as if it is in a videogame.
FALCON PAWNCH!!! (Appropriate reference I think that)Scott does not start off likeable. His history is terrible, and his drummer Kim Pine (Alison Pill) is part of the flotsam he has left in his wake, and consequently is pretty furious with him nearly all the time. His sister Stacey (Anna Kendrick) exists to torment him with his horrifying mistakes. As has been said, he is clearly a lazy, selfish waster who treats girls badly. So, you ask, why the hell should we even like Scott Pilgrim? Because, as pained as they are to admit it, every man has been at least a little like him once in their lives. Scott's journey in this film for the heart of Ramona is not a simplistic romance. If it was, it would be irritating. The film is mature enough to admit our leads are flawed, and realizes it is more about Scott becoming a whole person and learning self respect than it is love. Which is why, when I hear people complain about the outcome of the film, you have to realize - it's not important who he ends up with. The journey is his emotional one, regardless of how his relationship ultimately turns out.
Our leads, Scott and Ramona, are very good as expected. Michael Cera is largely playing well trodden schtick as Scott, but makes his character journey very convincing. Winstead plays Ramona just about right, since Ramona could be very easily just a nasty up-herself-bitch type, but manages to just about avoid this. The standout in the supporting cast on the girls side is Ellen Wong as Knives Chow, who just about manages the most adorable and energetic performance I think I've seen in any recent comedy. On the men's side, it's the evil ex-boyfriends who manage to steal every scene they're in. Chris Evans as film star Lucas Lee has a surprisingly brief appearance, but basically blows everybody else off screen. I look forward to him as Captain America. My personal favourite however is Brandon Routh as vegan Todd Ingram. He manages to play off his straitlaced Superman persona brilliantly, and basically just swaggers and glowers his way through his whole section with unmatched charisma. The guy is definitely shaping up as a rather awesome actor. Okay, so he's not Marlon Brando yet, but he sure as hell has chops. And how could we forget Kieran Culkin, the utterly man-whoring gay roommate of Scott, and manages to be incredibly appealing and wise and yet at times, utterly vile. He's hilarious in every sense of the word.
Scott with...well, one of the women he loves, Ramona.Visually, the film is an utter feast. Whether it be Scott and his band having a battle of the bands with two Japanese twins, or Scott himself fighting Ramona's evil exes, its breathtaking, kinetic and utterly unique. It's the sort of film that other comic-book adaptations will end up stealing whether they know it or not. Edgar Wright has developed one hell of a visual eye, and yet as I have said, he makes the best out of script, mining it for character and story. There is a lot of emotion in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, all extrapolated from the various emotional journeys of our characters. Whether it be Knives Chow's heartbreak over Scott's treatment of her, Ramona's emotional guilt over her exes or even Scott's own helplessness over his own stupidity and his eventual self-redemption.
Let's start bringing this to a close, lest I waffle too much. Basically, Scott Pilgrim is a treat. It is a little 'now', in that the film will date, but you are unlikely to come across anything like this anytime soon. It also manages to handle seven villains well, although some of them are a little underdeveloped (such as Bri, the girl ex, who barely gets a look in) which is a shame. Other problems? Not really, although I'd never call the film perfect. As I have said, I think the film's main problem is that the people who will really get it are a certain type of person. Some audiences will probably just be baffled at all of the Nintendo references et al, but most will enjoy this cracking little film. Well done Edgar, you've done us proud.
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