SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD REVIEW

Every now and again something a little bit different comes along! It could be the story, the style, the effects or something that sets a movie apart from everything else. Well, Scott Pilgrim ticks all those boxes.

Edgar Wright of Shaun of the Dead, Spaced and Hot Fuzz fame has put together a pretty impressive cast here, based on the Bryan Lee O Malley comic books. Michael Cera is Scott Pilgrim, Jason Schwartzman is Gideon Graves (evil ex #7) and the rest of the cast are made up of a very solid line up, which includes Chris Evans (Lucas Lee), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Ramona Flowers), Kieran Culkin (Wallace Wells) Anna Kendrick (Stacey Pilgrim).

The story here, at it’s core, is a love story. Ok, a love story on steroids and acid, but a love story none the less. I’m sure the case could be made that he’s completely schizo and delusional, but I’ll leave that for the shrinks. Scott Pilgrim has met the girl of his dreams (literally) Ramona Flowers and dumps his current high school love interest in favour of miss Flowers. For him to sink the deal, as it were, he has to defeat her seven evil exes. In between the ass kickin, he plays in a band called Sex Bob-Omb, who think they are pretty useless and end up in a battle of the bands competition.

Michael Cera rocks the geek look and way in all of his movies. But this time round, you’ll see Cera geek out and do what geeks rarely do, KICK ASS!. He does so in a variety of ways including flaming swords and a multitude of moves inspired from years of video games. Cera performs combo after combo and all is executed on screen in a visual manner that is simply brilliant!

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World is the most stylised movie of the last few years. Some of the video game references are incredibly in your face, others like the guitar hero reference near the start, are very subtle. Health bars, pee bars, high scores, coins and buckets more on screen visuals delight time and time again. As for the fight scenes, well, they literally leap off the screen and are so well choreographed and tightly edited that they will leave you gasping for breath. Even if the story and the performance here were rubbish (which they’re not, on both counts) the visual style and effects are simply mind blowing  to carry the whole thing. Either way, you’ll be left gripping onto your seat as an onslaught of combo movies fill the screen. Credit where its due, Edgar Wright has brought to the screen a visual style that others have tried and failed. There’s so much going on, while keeping the whole thing in tact, that it must have been a gargantuan task from start to finish, on the visual’s alone.

On occasion, the movie slows down a wee bit and it does     takes a bit of time to get going. It doesn’t really do any damage to the overall vibe, but considering the pace of everything else it is a bit obvious. If you’ve never picked up a video game controller in your life, the multitude of gaming references will be lost on you. Scott Pilgrim Vs The World is firmly a geek movie, and while there is enough action and romance at its core, it might not be enough for the average rom-com fan. That said it doesn’t fail to entertain. And only a right old fuddy duddy would not enjoy this. Compared to the comic book, the movie stays incredibly loyal, and while some parts have been left out, especially considering there is 6 books, that is understandable. If anything, the movie improves on the comic book, which is no mean feat!

Scott Pilgrim is the most visually stunning movie you will see this year. It has a rock solid cast, a great soundtrack and breath taking visuals. Edgar Wright has hit this one out of the park, and while it may not be for everybody (then again, what is) this is a must watch and one of the most epic films of 2010! 
To hear my interviews with Edgar Wright, Michael Cera, Jason Schwartzman and Anna Kendrick, hit up the podcast.