Movies Reviews

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World – Movie Review

By Anne Brodie Aug 12, 2010, 19:52 GMT

 Genre-smashing filmmaker Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) tells the amazing story of one romantic slacker’s quest to power up with love in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Scott Pilgrim has never had a problem getting a girlfriend.  It’s getting rid of them that proves difficult.  From the girl who kicked his heart’s ass—and now is back in town—to the teenage distraction he’s trying to shake when Ramona ...more

The Toronto based graphic novels of Bryan Lee O’Malley are a local sensation and their transference to the big screen was greeted with hoots and as close as a movie house gets to a standing ovation in Toronto. 

While some of the films elements are rather inside for an international audience, the love story and hipster references ring true wherever kids congregate.

The film is referential in the extreme, with shout outs to among dozens of other pop culture staples, Seinfeld, and The Legend of Zelda (the Universal brand at the top of the film score) characters named Young Neil and Stephen Stills. 

A big part of its appeal is the recognition factor of various youth truisms. 

Comic book elements – (R-RRRR-I-N-G! Pow! etc) wear thin quickly.  As the title suggests this is a film about fighting.  The fights are stylized, special effects driven stuff and wear thin even faster. 

That’s the films main weakness.  The pop references pile on top of one another to the point of suffocation, and yet it is surprisingly original in some ways. 

The film’s runaway strength is Michael Cera’s charm.  As Scott Pilgrim, a wiseass but gentle kid navigating the road to second-and-a-half base, Cera’s positive, wide-eyed fascination with his world is truly infectious. 

He’s a dyed in the wool Torontonian who wears dorky hats in winter, sips a lot of hot cocoa, and does his best to get along with others.  We root for him even when he ditches his “Chinese fake high school girlfriend” Knives Chau (Ellen Wong) who clearly loves him.

Okay we all know his job is to defeat the seven evil exes of his new love Ramona’s (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).  Her exes range from an A-list action movie star (Chris Evans), an angry punk girl, an Indian dancer, twin Japanese d.j.s, a bassist (Superman’s’ Brandon Routh!) and most evil of all, an entrepreneur of some kind played by Jason Schwartzman. 

Ramona’s bisexuality is treated like no big deal and the same for Scott’s randy gay roommate (Kieran Culkin).

The list of established and upcoming stars is pretty cool – Evans, Routh, Culkin, Thomas Jane, Anna Kendrick, Clifton Collins, Don McKellar, Allison Pill, Johnny Simmons and in a breakout performance, Ellen Wong.

It’s high energy beat belies a soft, warm, and fuzzy underbelly, but it’s a tad too cute and self-conscious.  Scott Pilgrim robs the pop reference library blind, but it’s not a deal breaker.  In all, a strong cast, good writing, and Michael Cera make audiences leave the theatre smiling.

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35mm fantasy
Written by Michael Bacall, Edgar Wright, based on graphic novel by Bryan Lee O’Malley
Directed by Edgar Wright
Opens: August 13
Runtime: 112 minutes
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for stylized violence, sexual content, language and drug references
Country: US
Language: English