Typically most movies that I see come out during the Hollywood-blockbuster-Summer season is usually forgettable. Even if I liked it, doesn't mean I'll see it again.
However, for the first time in a long time I went to go see Scott Pilgrim VS. The World for the second time. Its very rare for me to want to go see a film twice in theater! But honestly, I couldn't help myself. Writing this review after only seeing it once probably wouldn't do it any justice.
Needless to say, I enjoyed this movie on many different levels! Scott Pilgrim is like a mash between rock music, comic books and video games, with a hilarious love-story plot that literally knocks Scott Pilgrim on his ass. Somehow it manages to do a wonderful job of mixing in these genres for an entertaining film-going experience.
Scott Pilgrim is directed by Edgar Wright who is also responsible for such comedic splices like Shaun of The Dead; Hot Fuzz"; and even the fake Trailer for Grindhouse entitled "DON'T". After watching Scott Pilgrim, and knowing this guy's resume I am now a fan of his work! He truly brings a very interesting approach to Scott Pilgrim that transitions from scene to scene almost seamlessly. Many times you would go from a regular scene, to a dream scene back to regular scene in the Scott Pilgrim world of "Toronto, Canada" that provided a surreal atmosphere to the film.
Its not often you see an American movie set in Canada to begin with. So I was really glad to see the Toronto connection. However, since Scott Pilgrim is based on a Comic-book series, the series is probably set in Toronto anyway.
Scott Pilgrim opens up in a pretty cool way. It introduces the characters right away and explains the set up before the starting credits roll. You Learn that Michael Cera is of course Scott Pilgrim (age 22) and currently dating a 17 year-old Chinese school girl named Knives Chau, played by Ellen Wong. You learn that he's in a band called The Sex Bob-Ombs (say it fast) with his best friends, which I thought was a great name for the band given the video game context of the film. Scott introduces his girlfriend to his rock-band and they begin their rehearsal, thus starting a pretty cool credits sequence.
Then comes Ramona Flowers, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead rollerblading through Scott's dream. He would later see her in real life, and coerces her into going out with him (even though he's still dating Knives). Not too long after, Scott figures out that he's been marked for death by the League of Ramona's Seven Evil Ex's, which is headed up of course by none other than Gideon Graves played by Jason Schwartzman.
The Sex Bob-ombs land thier first gig in a Battle of the Bands that sets up the rest of the film's plot and leads up to Scott Pilgrim Fighting the "Exs".
The movie essentially sets itself up as Fighting game with a story. Every battle Scott gets into, a "VS" sign would pop up just like in Street Fighter, which was a nice touch. Part of the film's comedy was the ridiculousness of the plot. Every time Scott wins a battle the opponent turns into Quarters and Dimes thus continuing with the theme that we're watching a video game almost.
Mixed in, is the comic book style of writing the noise of certain sound effects like switching off the light and random punches. This adds to the Comic-book style of the film.
The writing is hilarious, there is a couple scenes that just make you snicker like a 12-year-old. The Pee meter scene; the scene where Scott Dives out the window trying to avoid Knives; and the part where he takes his time to tie his shoelace are all wonderfully comical moments that add to the film's overall charm.
I must mention some of the smaller roles that really add to the film. Chris Evans plays a hilarious evil Movie star Ex. Kieran Culkin not surprisingly plays the funny gay roommate. Brandon Routh plays the Vegan with psychic and kinetic powers which leads to the Vegan Police scene that is priceless!
Overall the movie was a fantastically entertaining watch, with a great cast, nice special effects and some funny moments that are classic in the making. A real original twist on the Boy-meets-Girl plot thats mixed in with Comics, video games, and rock-music.
4.5/5 Xombie Heads
This movie is gonna go into my DVD collection
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