Meet charming and jobless Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera). A bass guitarist for garage band Sex Bob-omb, the 22-year-old has just met the girl of his dreams…literally. The only catch to winning Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead)? Her seven evil exes are coming to kill him. 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.
Once in a while comes along a film that challenges your mind and asks you to take a leap of faith far greater than you could have anticipated when entering the cinema.
No I am not talking about Inception, I’m talking about “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World” – the OTHER mind bending, fantastical trip into cinematic delights.
Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), lives with his gay roomate Wallace Welles (Kieran Culkin), in a one bed (yes you read that right) bunker. He plays bass guitar in an indie-punk band called Sex Bob-omb. He is sort-of, not quite dating a high school girl named Knives Chau (Ellen Wong), who seems to be the perfect girl for Scott until Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) comes roller-skating into his life.
Scott realises that Ramona is the girl he wants to be with and tries to make a break from Knives without too much fuss. Little does Scott know that if he is to be Ramona’s main squeeze, he will have to defeat her 7 evil exes to be her boyfriend.
The action hits thick and fast from the time that the first ex – Mathew Patel (Satya Bhabha) arrives to do battle with the clueless – but not skillless Scott. Apart from a couple of awkward seconds where the audience I saw the movie with woke up and realised that they are supposed be having fun, the laughs come in quick succession. Nostalgic imagery and sounds play a big part in the style of the movie and it’s a film that will take many, many viewings to get all the hidden gems.
Edgar Wright delivers us a feast that really speaks to the geek in all of us. Pop culture influences notwithstanding, his style of filmmaking is a perfect companion to the source material provided. Drawing upon the comic books irreverant style and off the wall story telling, Wright manages to elevate the mere comic-to-screen adaptation and makes a thoughroughly entertaining and visceral experience.
Despite having seemed to be always playing a variation on the same theme, Michael Cera finally has a bit more to offer this time around. There a LOT lof people in this movie, including a couple of great cameos. Everyone in the film, does an excellent job, but it really is Michael Cera and Mary Elizabeth Winsteads’ movie. Their chemistry sells the story and with a steady hand like Edgar’s, the film just WORKS.
If you are epilieptic, this may not be the feel good movie of the summer for you, however if you enjoy your movies with style and a great sense of humour then Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is for you.
I give this one a 4.5 out of 5