Review: Scott Pilgrim vs The World

After its panel at Comic-Con and subsequent early screenings Scott Pilgrim vs The World is riding a wave of almost overwhelming positive buzz. Based on the graphic novel the story follows a guy who has “defeat” the seven evil exes of the girl he likes in order to date her. While the film may not quite reach the “all-time classic” status that some pumped it up to be it is a very entertaining ride and like nothing that has been seen before on the big screen. It will definitely carry the younger generation that grew up on video games because it is essentially one in itself.

Scott Pilgrim is basically a giant video game. And I mean that literally as it borrows the on-screen graphics and sound effects that will be immediately identifiable to anyone with experience playing video games. That became a big part of the fun and is what separates it from any other romantic action comedy that has come before it.

The seven evil exes include a couple great cameos, the best of which I thought was Chris Evans. Michael Cera was typical Cera and in doing a fairly good job with the character it wasn’t anything we haven’t seen out of him in most of his films before. The real standout was actually Kieran Culkin who plays Wallace (Scott’s gay roommate). He steals pretty much every scene he is in which I really didn’t anticipate would happen.

The biggest surprise to me was the effectiveness of the action sequences. Even though they were essentially turned into video game sequences (exaggerated fantasy) they were very well choreographed and a lot of fun to watch play out. Also with the band Scott is in, “Sex Bob-Omb”, we get the added plus of some good music that flows with the action really well and involves itself in the battles.

I found the film to be a little awkward early on but once it got into the facing of the evil exes is when it took off. There was also a conflict of emotions in questioning what Scott really saw in Ramona and whether she was worth fighting over (and neglecting others along the way) considering her attitude and actions – though I really do get the appeal.

Scott Pilgrim won’t resonate with everyone but for those that it does they will enjoy it immensely. This is one of the few movies that I’ve attended a regular showing of where the audience gave it rousing applause at the end. That is probably the best way to sum up Scott Pilgrim…it’s a crowd pleaser.

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