Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is the two-hour-long fantasy dream of any gamer nerd who boasts, "I still rock the 64" and likes modest indie rock bands that no one's heard of. Not to say that it's not for everyone, because I recommend it to people of all ages, preferably those between 16 and 30, but if you're that guy who loved classic Mario and Street Fighter, then this is probably the best movie you're ever going to see. If you hate that guy, then I suggest you check out "Expendables" with your dad.
Pilgrim is out with great timing, too. With this summer's hit Inception telling us that "all movies are really dreams," here is a movie that's equivalent to the student who finishes his science project first to show that he's faster and smarter than everyone in class. This film actually embraces the concept that the entire story is a fantasy world in which anything can happen (although it is occasionally burdened with a video game-esque set of rules) and time is completely non-linear, which is perfect for the attention-deficient, "Superbad"-raised young audience it's intended for.
The story is very simple and sort of cliched, but you'll barely notice because what really grabs your attention is the fast-paced, special-effects driven details that make Scott Pilgrim stand out amongst teen rom-coms. It is something much more. Maybe in the future it will be outdone, but for now it stand alone as a film unlike any we've ever seen before. What Scott Pilgrim manages to do is to adapt the graphic novel it's based on to the max, meaning that from time to time (more than often, actually) sound effects are written out on the screen like they are in the comics, and the fights are incredibly filmed to mirror the various video game sequences they pay homage to.
But on to the story. Michael Cera plays Scott Pilgrim fairly well, and although I think they could've done better, I can't think of any actors at the moment. He's a few years out of high school and living with his openly gay friend (Kieran Culkin). He plays bass in a garage band called "Sex Bob-omb" (Super Mario reference) with an ex-highschool-gilfriend (the drummer) and the singer/guitarist who we never really learn much about. He burdens their band practices with his new girlfriend who's Chinese and still in high school. They don't like her, and Scott doesn't much either, but he admits that he only does it because he's bored. That's when he meets Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead from "Death Proof" and "Sky High"), a girl he saw in a recent dream. He immediately puts his whole life aside to get her to go out with him, and that's when the real story starts.
The first 30 minutes of the movie cleverly distracts us from waiting for the fight scenes we came for by giving us some pretty quick but efficient character development to make us feel for the characters, although we never see much from Ramona to understand exactly why Scott is chasing her. Oh yeah, she's the girl of his dreams. Double layered dreams I suppose? When he finally gets Ramona to confirm their relationship status, it is then that her "seven evil ex's" come to fight Scott Pilgrim. It's different, yeah, but that's just how this story works. Remember, it's that guy's dream.
The fights are really sweet, and pay some great homage to various games like Street Fighter, Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero amongst many others. However, I must say that I was coming into the theaters expecting to see the greatest movie ever, and I was almost let down, but there's no way I can really say this movie sucked. From the opening scene of the movie when Scott's band plays and the camera angles are zoomed in on the instruments and the noise is booming and it's like being at a Blink concert all over again, the nostalgia kicks in and keeps me amazed until the very end.
Again though, there was some disappointment, but never enough to frustrate me. The ending was very much like those unavoidable credits at the end of Pokemon Yellow, it almost went on too long. And after the first fight I expected more from the following ones, which all start very dashingly but always end very anti-climatically (although every opponent being reduced to coins after being defeated is still pretty amusing); it was almost as if cheat codes had been used!
I gotta say the acting was great everywhere, and I never felt like I was watching actors, which I gotta give credit to the effects team for setting up quite the distraction. "Shaun of the Dead" director Edgar Wright has only proven how much potential he has after creating this highly entertaining fiasco of a movie. As it is the first of its kind, expect Scott Pilgrim to influence many filmmakers in the future as it will prove to be quite innovative. While it doesn't put up the fight I expected, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is still pretty revolutionary.
Pilgrim is out with great timing, too. With this summer's hit Inception telling us that "all movies are really dreams," here is a movie that's equivalent to the student who finishes his science project first to show that he's faster and smarter than everyone in class. This film actually embraces the concept that the entire story is a fantasy world in which anything can happen (although it is occasionally burdened with a video game-esque set of rules) and time is completely non-linear, which is perfect for the attention-deficient, "Superbad"-raised young audience it's intended for.
The story is very simple and sort of cliched, but you'll barely notice because what really grabs your attention is the fast-paced, special-effects driven details that make Scott Pilgrim stand out amongst teen rom-coms. It is something much more. Maybe in the future it will be outdone, but for now it stand alone as a film unlike any we've ever seen before. What Scott Pilgrim manages to do is to adapt the graphic novel it's based on to the max, meaning that from time to time (more than often, actually) sound effects are written out on the screen like they are in the comics, and the fights are incredibly filmed to mirror the various video game sequences they pay homage to.
But on to the story. Michael Cera plays Scott Pilgrim fairly well, and although I think they could've done better, I can't think of any actors at the moment. He's a few years out of high school and living with his openly gay friend (Kieran Culkin). He plays bass in a garage band called "Sex Bob-omb" (Super Mario reference) with an ex-highschool-gilfriend (the drummer) and the singer/guitarist who we never really learn much about. He burdens their band practices with his new girlfriend who's Chinese and still in high school. They don't like her, and Scott doesn't much either, but he admits that he only does it because he's bored. That's when he meets Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead from "Death Proof" and "Sky High"), a girl he saw in a recent dream. He immediately puts his whole life aside to get her to go out with him, and that's when the real story starts.
The first 30 minutes of the movie cleverly distracts us from waiting for the fight scenes we came for by giving us some pretty quick but efficient character development to make us feel for the characters, although we never see much from Ramona to understand exactly why Scott is chasing her. Oh yeah, she's the girl of his dreams. Double layered dreams I suppose? When he finally gets Ramona to confirm their relationship status, it is then that her "seven evil ex's" come to fight Scott Pilgrim. It's different, yeah, but that's just how this story works. Remember, it's that guy's dream.
The fights are really sweet, and pay some great homage to various games like Street Fighter, Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero amongst many others. However, I must say that I was coming into the theaters expecting to see the greatest movie ever, and I was almost let down, but there's no way I can really say this movie sucked. From the opening scene of the movie when Scott's band plays and the camera angles are zoomed in on the instruments and the noise is booming and it's like being at a Blink concert all over again, the nostalgia kicks in and keeps me amazed until the very end.
Again though, there was some disappointment, but never enough to frustrate me. The ending was very much like those unavoidable credits at the end of Pokemon Yellow, it almost went on too long. And after the first fight I expected more from the following ones, which all start very dashingly but always end very anti-climatically (although every opponent being reduced to coins after being defeated is still pretty amusing); it was almost as if cheat codes had been used!
I gotta say the acting was great everywhere, and I never felt like I was watching actors, which I gotta give credit to the effects team for setting up quite the distraction. "Shaun of the Dead" director Edgar Wright has only proven how much potential he has after creating this highly entertaining fiasco of a movie. As it is the first of its kind, expect Scott Pilgrim to influence many filmmakers in the future as it will prove to be quite innovative. While it doesn't put up the fight I expected, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is still pretty revolutionary.
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