When a movie opens up with an 8-bit version of the film company's logo, you know you can just hear all the gamer nerds geeking out over what they're about to see. Such was the case with me seeing Scott Pilgrim vs. The World with my friends a few years back on opening day. Never having read the graphic novels prior to then, I will admit, I had little to no expectations for what I was getting myself into. But then that aforementioned logo appeared followed by the following text/opening narration:
"Not so long ago
In the mysterious land
Of Toronto, Canada
Scott Pilgrim was dating a high schooler"
With that opening text alone, I was immediately sold on how cheesy, yet geeky and inventive this movie would be. And, boy, did it deliver on all three fronts.
*MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD*
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World sees the titular character (played by Michael Cera) in a jam when he falls for the new girl in town, Ramona Flowers (played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead). In order to win her over, however, Scott must face all odds against her seven evil exes (known as the League of Evil Exes) and defeat them in various duels to the death. All while Scott throws down with the baggage of Ramona's love life, his band, Sex Bob-Omb, rises from their garage band status and his former girlfriend, Knives Chau (played by Ellen Wong), seeks to get back at Ramona for presumably stealing her man. Sound crazy enough? While the story and characters apparently aren't nearly as fleshed out as they are in the graphic novels, they're still full of crazy elements and traits that make you wish it were real. Most prominently, each fight with an evil ex turns everything into a video game-like scenario with there being hit combos displayed on screen at times, Scott and other fighters pulling weapons out of thin air, and, each time an ex or other enemy is killed, they explode into a shower of coins followed by a number of points displaying where they die. Brutal as it sounds, it's all actually quite fun to watch.
Michael Cera, for one, does an excellent job of portraying an adorkable nerd -- who's kind of a jerk when you think about it -- and he and the other members of the ensemble play well off each other in their outrageous interactions. It's especially outrageous in the variety of methods that Scott utilizes to conquer each fight: his fists, his wit, pulling out tricks, a bass guitar, and, ultimately, the Power of Love and Self-respect. And, despite the daunting task at hand, Scott himself never resorts to the tired trope of "main character complains about the task at hand" trope. In other words, instead of relying on another person -- perhaps his sister, Stacey (played by Anna Kendrick) -- to motivate him to essentially take on the world, he just accepts that his destiny awaits beyond what he has to do and goes through with it. And, since it's Ramona's past that he's dealing with -- even somewhat his own -- his journey creates a surprisingly powerful message for the audience: the best way to even have a relationship with the one you want isn't all fluffy clouds, but, rather, involves serious commitment even to the point of dealing with another's baggage. That said, I may be giving a lot away just by simply explaining Scott's character, so let's move on.
Being directed by Edgar Wright of all people, the film is packed with many nods to the conventions of the medium in which it came from. From what I've noticed in the special features, many of the film's shots are actually pulled straight from the graphic novels. Much of it involves innovative camera work and interactions between the foreground and background in scenes such as the part where Scott watches Ramona and Knives talk from a distance as well the elevator shot during the climactic scene. The typography throughout the film is a nice edition as well; in scenes where one would expect a narrator to do a voice over there are, instead, instances of text (pulled straight from the books I might add) that explain transitions between scenes (i.e.: "And then... he stalked her... until... she left... the party"). Going along with the video game-esque scenes are moments in which there displays stats for Scott -- specifically right before the final fight in which one of them strangely says Balls: +8 -- that most gamers may see as an element missing from movies directly based on video games. As a movie referencing various video games as opposed to being inspired by one, I definitely see it as a crucial element that works better in this movie than anywhere else.
Ultimately, one of the best, most crucial elements that gives the movie the unique identity it already has is the soundtrack. Not long after I watched the movie did I get my hands on the soundtrack for reasons that it all fit surprisingly well with my video games. Personal stories aside, the original songs recorded specifically for this film contain mainly garage band-styled tracks played by Scott's band during the opening credits and the many music-based showdowns throughout. Many other tracks that inspired the graphic novel's author, Brian Lee O'Malley, back in the day are also featured as background music (examples being "I Heard Ramona Sing" and "Under My Thumb" among others). Even the bass battle between Scott and the third evil ex is full of such epic guitar riffs that would definitely inspire the most competent of guitar players watching this movie. Plus, in addition to there being multiple sound effects ripped straight from games throughout, there is also this one secret 8-bit song hidden at the end of the credits for those willing to stay all the way through to the end with it. Although this is definitely no Marvel movie, I still find it satisfying enough to sit through to the end of the credits when I watch any movie for review.
So pretty much the gist of my take on Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is that it lives up to its poster tagline: "an epic of epicness". It may not be one of the absolute greatest movies out there, but it definitely has its own unique identity with its simplified plot line, wacky world and characters, video game-like scenes, its typography, and awesome soundtrack, I wish there could be more movies (and perhaps books) like it. Of course, there will never be a sequel, but even I would be down to see any movie that takes inspiration and cues from it on a lot of levels. With that said, the verdict? This movie gets a solid B in my book and consider it worth watching for its entertainment value.
Thanks y'all for reading and, as always, I will see you in the next review!
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