Movie Review – Scott Pilgrim vs The World

**********************

Okay, I’m converted. This film, everything from the Atari-esque Universal opening title card, to the magical, mythical finale, is so close to perfection it’s like staring into the sun. Blindingly so. I’ll warn you now, this review is going to be a multi-paragraph love-letter to Edgar Wright and the team behind what has to be one of the single best films ever made. Scott Pilgrim manages to be both comedy and action film all in one, a delicate balance under normal circumstances, but with Edgar Wright behind the camera, instead becomes a singular comic-book-film-brought-to-life entity that must be seen to be believed. I laughed my ass off watching this film, and was astonished, yes, astonished, at the superbly choreographed fight sequences and how seamlessly they are interwoven into the story. As I write this, I’m trying to invent a new hyperbole to describe the sheer joy, the laughter and the impossibility this film engenders in the viewer. Even my wife, the gorgeous Lisa T, uttered the most hard-to-prize-from-her-lips words ever uttered while watching this film: “That is SO cool!“, a statement which could very well be accompanied by the Earth splitting open and creating a black hole of impossible stupendousness. It’s that rare. To say Scott Pilgrim Vs The World is a dynamic film is to equate a good foot massage with a multiple orgasm. Scott Pilgrim is a blast, from start to finish, and is essential viewing for everyone, be they male or female, because it’s just so cool.

I almost don’t want to give you any details of this film, so you can discover and savour the moments as they occur while watching them for yourself: but in order to adequately clarify my statements, you must be made aware of the basic premise (for the few of you reading this who will actually go watch it based on my say-so!). Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), a Toronto-based bass guitarist for local band “Sex Bob-omb”, has just got himself a girlfriend: 17 year old Knives Chau (Ellen Wong), a young girl who falls head over heels for him. While meeting Knives at the local library, Scott also encounters Ramona Flowers, an American girl with a dark, mysterious past (a past which, of course, Scott simply must uncover) who he starts to date as well. When he’s attacked by one of Ramona’s former boyfriends, Scott learns that in order to date Ramona, he must fight and defeat all 7 of her past relationships: in a Mortal Kombat/StreetFighter style battle to the death. That’s the basic premise of the film, and I’ll state right here and now that there’s so much going on in this film it’s nigh impossible to disclose much more here without spoiling the film for you. Lets’ just say that Scott Pilgrim is a kooky action-genre film with the heart and soul of a teen-romantic dramadey.

After the runaway success of cult hit Shaun of The Dead, and the equally brilliant follow-up Hot Fuzz, I was in some doubt that director Edgar Wright could possibly make it three from three. After all, the dream teaming of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost were nowhere to be seen this time round, instead the film relied on the schmutzy-comedy styling of Michael Cera, perhaps best known for his roles in Superbad and Juno. His thin, lanky (nerdy) style lent itself quite well to the thin, lanky (nerdy) character of Scott Pilgrim, a character born in the world of comics. I’ve never read a Scott Pilgrim comic, nor had I even heard of Scott Pilgrim as a comic until I saw this film, so my knowledge of the world the characters come from is limited to virtually nil. That being said, Pilgrim strikes me as somewhat of an Everyman character, the kind of wimpy, put-down struggling young man with little prospects (he’s sleeping on his gay friends blow-up mattress in a basement apartment for crying out loud) and a desire to one day sleep with a girl. He’s the fantasy in all of us, the fantasy of being able to rise above the troubles of life and battle your way to victory. Cera is his typical self in this role, and thankfully, it fits him perfectly. He’s hardly leading-man material, in most cases, but here he’s good enough to swallow his pride and go to some difficult places as an actor. His main co-star in the film, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, plays Ramona, and she’s dark and angry all over the place, while at the same time remaining soft in the middle. Like an eclair, really. Her sensitivity is shown in glimpses, her history (her ex’s are, after all, all kinds of angry representations of the human race) and her emotional state gradually chipped away by as Scott battles his way past ex after ex. Scotts younger love interest, Knives Chau, is all smiles and teeth in Ellen Wong, and played with that annoying perky teen-hyper style to perfection.

The screenplay is a zippy little affair from Wright and co-writer Michael Bacall, touching on both the absurdity of the scenario and the teen angst associated with love and it’s trappings. This is, mainly, a love story of sorts, although it does tend to be buried beneath the rapid-fire editing and enormous battle sequences. Still, at the core of the script is Scott’s search for love, a kind of self-serving character arc that makes him seem a little hard-hearted at first, but eventually comes round to being empathetic. The dialogue is snappy, with Cera, Kulkin and Winstead getting a fair portion of the best stuff, while the plot does tend to drift into the farcical absurd, it remains true right through to the end.

Where the film is an absolute jaw dropper is the use of the fight sequences to further the story. Much like The Matrix, which gave us massive fight sequences that actually allowed the story to continue, rather than simply exist for the sake of it, Scott Pilgrim’s fight sequences are superbly choreographed and shot, filmed in a very Manga-esque manner, and edited like the feeding frenzy of a group of sharks with the scent of blood. Cera, who purportedly filmed a lot of his own fighting stunts and sequences, is extraordinary for such a weedy lookin’ kid in that he takes on the fighting styles he’s been taught and amplifies them to the extreme. I’ll admit he’s aided by some truly amazing effects, and a fairly large degree of stunt-work and CGI doubles, but he appears to actually be doing a lot of it himself, and for that he’s to be commended. In fact, both he and Jason Schwartzman, who appears in the film’s brutal finale, go toe-to-toe at one point in a showdown equal to, if not better than, anything we saw in the Matrix films, and most of that is not in slo-motion! The approximation of an arcade game visual style to accompany the fighting sequences will bring a smile to even the most cynical viewer’s face, as will the Power Rangers colour palette and Akira-esque camera angles and shot choices. If there’s one thing Edgar Wright can do, it’s make action sequences look awesome. And by awesome, I mean AWESOME.

From a visual aesthetic, I wish to take my hat off to the wonderful Bill Pope, he who shot the Matrix trilogy, for his work here. He makes every frame of this film pop with energy, from the drab Toronto background to the flashy, cartoony style of the clubs and battle locations – Scott Pilgrim looks amazing and it’s thanks to him. One of the most entertaining things I noticed about the film, is Wrights use of different aspect ratio framing on key sequences. The film is shot in a flatter 1.85:1 aspect, although it does tend to close up to a 2.40:1 aspect at times, perhaps a tip of the hat (Ang Lee Hulk-style) to the comic book origins of the film. The different aspects approximating different comic panels, perhaps. Loved it, and thought the style Wright brought to the movie was awesome.

I want to rave more about this film, but I feel that to do so would build up the film too greatly for those who haven’t seen it yet. Those of you who may have been put off by the films chewy title, or perhaps put off by the inclusion of Michael Cera in the lead role (I admit, I was one of those), please take the time to reconsider your approach to this film. It’s massive, energetic, like having Red Bull mainlined directly into your brain via a cinematic intravenous – you’ll have to be a stone cold dead wanker to not enjoy this film. In fact, I dare you not to smile at least once through this movie. Scott Pilgrim vs The World is an epochal film from Edgar Wright, one of the best films of 2010 (if not this millennium) and should be essential viewing for everybody. As such, it attains my highest possible recommendation, and the maximum rating achievable here at this site.

Related articles

• Recently Played: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World [2010]
• Scott PIlgrim Vs The World – Movie Review
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World 2010 BRRip AC3 XViD
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
• Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: Or, The Twenty-Something Tango
• Movie Review – The World’s End
• Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
• Review: The World’s End
• Movie Review – The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn
• Youth in Revolt (2010)

Who wrote this?

Rodney Twelftree

“Some people say I like films. Those people are wrong. I *love* films.” – Me. I said this.

Rodney has been writing about films for well over two decades, appreciates a good wine, the love of his wife and kids, and the affection of his dog and cats. He has a fondness of cheesy 90’s action and classic Hollywood, hates that physical media is disappearing, and wishes somebody would make a high-budget series of The Neverending Story.

See author's posts