Scott Pilgrim vs The World is the rare kind of a movie that makes you hopeful about the future of films. It’s filled to the brim with wit, humor, action, romance and comedy. It’s a seemingly perfect blend of everything you want from a movie going experience and it does with style, pizzaz and originality. Based on the fantastic and idiosyncratic comic book by Bryan Lee O’Malley, Scott Pilgrim vs The World centers around the world of Scott Pilgrim, his friends, his band and of course his love life. The comic exemplifies elements that perfectly seem to describe the amalgamation of geek/nerd culture including various references to video games, pop culture and film. Directed by one of the most talented filmmakers working in the industry today, Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) has created a cinematic masterpiece with Scott Pilgrim vs The World that impressively continues his perfect streak of not making a single bad film.
The plot is simple enough and straight to the point, but with subtle hidden consequences to every decision that elevate the story thematically. Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a 22 year old Canadian bass guitarist that has fallen in love with a high schooler, Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). His band mates think it’s a bad idea to date someone so young, in particular his roommate Wallace Wells (Kieran Culkin) who warns that only bad things can come from this. Nonetheless, Scott ignores their advice and then finds himself at a crossroads when the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), literally enters his dreams giving him a bad case of love sickness. Scott is faced with a difficult decision and decides to pursue his love for Ramona, only to find himself facing 7 evil-exes who he must defeat kung fu video game style in order to claim his girl.
Edgar Wright has truly outdone himself with this film, creating what might be the most authentic comic book/manga-esque celluloid adaptation to date. The creative and fast paced editing is truly like anxiously tearing through the pages of an engaging comic book. Certain action scenes reminded me of the colorful action sequences from the underrated Speed Racer by the Wachowskis, merging cartoon style movement seamlessly with CG decor to create a living and breathing comic book environment. And if the visual splendor wasn’t enough to satisfy your quality deprived eyeballs, Wright and company are careful to keep the laughs rolling, using pitch perfect comedic timing.
Nearly every element of Scott Pilgrim vs The World is flawless and there isn’t one dull moment in the film. Having read all 6 of the comics (though only having read 3 at the time I saw the film) you can be rest assured that Wright and his co-writers have done an amazing job at keeping the style and elements of the film true to the source. Though there are some compromises to condense everything towards the end, they are smart and well thought out decisions that retain the brilliant creativity that made O’Malley’s books such a huge success. Scott Pilgrim vs The World is easily the most fun I’ve had at the theaters all year and it will be hard for the talented Edgar Wright to top this masterful fusion of all things cool.
10 out of 10
What did you think of Scott Pilgrim vs The World? Are you seeing it this weekend?
BONUS XP!!! TRAILER MASHUP I EDITED OF SCOTT PILGRIM VS INCEPTION!!!