Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World Review

Film-o-Rama Review by August Meyer

Although he may have trouble fighting "The World", the one thing Scott Pilgrim does not need to worry about is teenage opinion. The Canadian comic book inspired, "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World" is completely geared toward a younger crowd, and is just what is needed in this recent period of cinematic let downs. "Scott Pilgrim" is a total "teen flick", but somehow it strays away from the superficiality of recent movies such as "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist", and even "Twilight" for that matter. Think more along the lines of "Juno" and "Napoleon Dynamite" meets "Transformers"...but in a good way.

What with the recent explosion of quirky teenage dramadies, "Scott Pilgrim" is a welcome reprieve from all of the other "Juno" wannabe's. And it's not just these rip-offs that are getting tiresome. The entire summer repertoire of movies, at first, seemed promising, but did not pay off in the least until it was almost too late. "Inception" is the movie that swam up from the depths of what is now the abandoned land of originality, and saved our summer from certain doom. Having another film do this same thing so soon feels like a treat that we may not see again for quite some time.

The movie centers around a quirky young Canadian man and his not so normal trials with his love life. After going through a bad break up, Scott's life is in shambles. He, at the age of 22, begins dating a slightly off high school student, and his band, "The Sex Bob-ombs", is doing worse than ever. This all turns around when he meets quite literally the girl of his dreams, in the form of Ramona Flowers. A non-conformist at heart with a punk edge and color changing hair, Ramona seems to be Scott's perfect match. She would agree too, except for them to be together, Scott would have to duel her "League of Seven Evil Exes" to the death, this being a group of her past spurned lovers who all coincidentally have some sort of super power and decide to team up and fight the man who dares take away their long lost Ramona. This is where the movie really takes off. Each fight has a style of its own, incorporating the retro-video game feel that the movie thrives on. The visuals are stylized beyond belief, and are complimented by the general quirk of both the characters, settings, and the overall feel of the film. I mean come on, what else but a movie like "Scott Pilgrim" can pull of a scene in which a flying, makeup wearing Goth kid, surrounded by floating "hipster demons", explodes into a cloud of quarters after being defeated in a video game-like fight, during a show tunes style musical number, in the middle of a two bit Canadian Battle of the Bands competition? It is this uniqueness that will pack audiences into theaters, and for good reason.

While I have been pontificating my love for how great the story itself is, that is only one reason why this movie shines. The casting is absolutely pitch perfect. I cannot picture anyone else but Michael Cera in the role of Scott, and the relatively unknown Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona. The two play off each other wonderfully, what with Scott's paranoid awkwardness and Ramona's perpetual cool. These two actors were a match made in heaven.

I could go on and on about the strong points of the movie, but I think it is only fair to acknowledge its weak points also. The vast majority of the acting in the film is superb, but there are areas that could use some serious improvement. Knives Chau, played by newcomer Ellen Wong, is Scott's high school girlfriend. She is insecure, immature, whiny and paranoid, but shows this all too much. Throughout the film Wong seems to be almost squinting to read out of a script that is just off-screen, while the delivery of her humor sounds as if she had just come out of an amateur acting class. This becomes increasingly distracting amidst the plethora of strong performances as the film progresses. Additionally, the ending seemed a little forced. I won't spoil anything, but coming out of the theater, one might find themselves wondering what was going through the mind of the director when he shot that sequence. While the movie as a whole demolished any cliches or stereotypes of the genre (if there really is one that can contain "Scott Pilgrim"), the ending of the movie feels a little disappointing, but recovers itself just in time to put a serious smile on your face.

Throughout all of this flashy, CG goodness and breathtaking originality, the most amazing thing about the movie is the sincerity that "Scott Pilgrim" brings to the screen. There are plenty of jokes, innuendos, and fist to face action, but not so deep down there is a feeling of endearing self-awareness, and the need for the message of young love to get through to audiences. Now this may seem mushy gushy, but all in all, "Scott Pilgrim Versus The World" is an absolutely fantastic movie that has arrived at precisely the right time.