Comic Books. Video Games. Hot Chicks. Good Music. That’s all anyone really wants. That’s all anyone really needs. For geeks like me, that’s heaven. See us on new comic day and you’ll see what true happiness looks like. Listen closely when we get the newest “Final Fantasy” game, and you’ll hear our hearts start pounding in rhythm with the soundtrack. It’s hit points, extra lives, warp zones and the possibility of being the next “Guitar Hero” that makes us tick. The only problem … that stuff doesn’t happen in the real world. If only I could take my wireless controller out for a spin on a daily basis. My button smashing skills would own. Well wait no longer. Scott Pilgrim is here and in his world, anything is possible.
Written and directed by Edgar Wright (The classic British television series “Spaced,” “Shaun of the Dead,” “Hot Fuzz”), “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” is a modern love story told in a language that people like me can understand – 8-bit awesome. Based on the hit comic book series of the same name by Bryan Lee O’Malley, “Scott Pilgrim” is a kinetic gem of snarky characters, amazing fighting and plain old quirky fun.
The story is classic … err, epic. Nerdy dude (Scott) meets new hotty (Ramona). Nerd falls in love. Nerd pursues the hotty. Hotty comes around. Hotty kisses Nerd and offers him Sleepy Bear Tea. Nerd is attacked by the League of Evil Exes and must defeat each of them in a battle to the death to keep girl. What? Yeah that’s right! Let the random video game references commence.
Starring the always-relaxed Michael Cera as the title character, “Scott Pilgrim” is a who’s who of young, potentially talented indy actors. Always likeable, Cera does well with his soft-spoken mannerisms to carry this visually heavy film while Mary Elizabeth Winstead (“Death Proof”) as the “woman of his dreams” Ramona vamps it up. Rounding out the cast of notables is Academy Award Nominee Anna Kendrick (“Up in the Air”) the always bitchy Aubrey Plaza (“Parks and Recreation”) and an extremely talented Kieran Culkin (“The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys”). At the same time, sharing in the triangle is sort of newbie Ellen Wong as the love smitten high-schooler Knives Chau. However, the real treats come with her evil exes. Brandon Routh, Chris Evans and Jason Schwartzman play up the cool as they challenge Pilgrim for the right to date Ramona.
Personally, I found this film wonderful. Visually stunning and told in the modern, off beat tempo that films have are started moving towards. Cera’s doe-eyed protagonist just makes you want to smile and he’s so sickening sweet that even when he’s breaking the heart of young Knives, you want him to achieve a “level up” and get back to Ramona. Truly a new age love story developed for the overly stimulated, highly caffeinated and ridiculously sarcastic youth of the world. With references to old school video games popping up everywhere and comic book sound effects helping to tell the story, this is film made for a guy like me and I loved it. It just makes you feel good and gooey inside but still delivers the punch that people need to make it much more interesting then your average “boy meets girl” kind of film.
One thing that I know everyone will agree on – the action in the movie is crazy-sick. (For the modern vernacularly challenged of the world, that’s a good thing.) This film houses some of the coolest fight scenes I have seen in a while. The perfect blending of comic book and video games into live action makes this film truly something special. With flashing lights, fire swords and musical dragons flying through the air, I was like a deer in headlights wanting more, more, more.
Plus, and another reason why I enjoyed this film so much, all the characters are acutely aware of how strange all this stuff is. From the very beginning, every character comments on the quirkiness and odd things happening around them making the style of the film even more fun.
However, it isn’t all fire flowers and invincible star powers. The film is a little too long with way too many scenes of sad sack Cera close-ups as he pines over Ramona. Plus, in comparison to the fighting, the rest of the film kind of gets a little slow and all you really want is to get to the next big fight. At the same time, and I don’t mean this in a bad way, the film is very Canadian. Most people won’t get that, but if you take the American slacker and the dryness of good British humor, mix it together and then delete any sense of urgency, you get Canada. Like I said, I enjoyed it but for most of the mainstream audience, they’ll either be bored out of their gourds or frustrated because they don’t get why it’s funny. Think “Napoleon Dynamite” only even more subdued. Hopefully, there will be a little more like me that like the off-tempo oddness and just laugh at the awkwardness.
Overall, I think it’s pretty clear that I adored “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.” From the pixilated opening credits to the final boss battle, I was mesmerized and in geek heaven. It’s obvious that all the players understood the mission and were ready to have fun inside this video game powered environment. While not everyone will get the humor and almost everyone will be stretched by the run time, “Scott Pilgrim” is summer eye candy at its best giving gamers exactly what they want – something with good replay value. So grab your popcorn, sit back and have some fun. Just remember your extra coins and no cheat codes allowed.
4 out of 5 Pixelated Pilgrims
