Avinash's Review #3

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

Summary:

Scott Pilgrim must defeat his new girlfriend's seven evil exes in order to win her heart.

Review:

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 Edgar Wright, who twisted zombie movies with Shaun of the Dead and toyed with standard-issue cop film conventions in Hot Fuzz follows with another inspired comedy, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Based on a graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O'Malley, it's a film for the Nintendo Generation.

The hyper-violent boss battles of games like Street Fighter, the 8-bit victory tunes of The Legend of Zelda and the looks of a shonen manga — the movie not only pays tribute to pixels’ past, it celebrates them with a dizzying display that's as fresh and innovative as any game seen on a home console.

And who better to celebrate this video game nirvana than geek-chic actor Michael Cera? Cera plays Scott, an average-at-best bass player in a less-than-average three-piece garage band, Sex Bob-omb, starry-eyed for its big indie-label break. Scott is the prototypical nice guy who has zero inspiration and aspiration until he meets his indie dream girl Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Joining this prominent cast are some the best young talents in Hollywood which includes the likes of Ellen Wong, Aubrey Plaza, Brie Larson, Alison Pill, Mark Webber, Anna Kendrick, Brandon Routh, Johnny Simmons Kieran Culkin, Jason Swartzman and Chris Evans to name a few.

But Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is too smart to function only as another quirky, clever love story. Instead, the comedy deliriously shifts into something far less conventional, beginning with the appearance of the first evil ex. It's a reality defined by the laws of video games like Mortal Kombat, as Wright spins the film into a series of mini adventures leading to a chapter-closing, stylized brawl with each spurned partner of Ramona.

The battle sequences between Scott and the exes are dreamy, imaginative, and thoroughly engaging — thanks in large part to cinematographer Bill Pope, who helped define modern cinema's slow-mo battles with the Matrix trilogy, along with some brilliant set designs. The fights, for all their onscreen wizardry, also remain true to their gaming roots. For example, Scott earns points for hits, combo hits, and kills, with an extra life as a bonus if he scores high enough and lasts long enough.

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Wright’s vintage use of frame swipes accompanied by excellent sound effects is used brilliantly to tell the story about Scott’s transitionary period in his life. A period between knowing who you were and deciding who you’re going to be. All done with the help of stunning editing by Jonathan Amos and Paul Machliss with Nigel Godrich’s Music as icing in this stylistic cake.

Wright not only understands video games, he's clearly a fan.

And that makes a big difference in the success of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

While there have been numerous attempts by Hollywood to cash in on the popularity of video games, none of those films has felt true to the artistic and creative spirit of those games until now.

This one gets it right.

Rating: 9/10