Thursday, August 12, 2010

Review: Scott Pilgrim vs the World

Grade: A+

Scott Pilgrim is a 23 year old bass player in a band with his friends and is currently “between jobs”, he is also still working on getting over a bad break-up with an ex-girlfriend of his. Currently, he is dating a 17 year old high schooler that his friends and band mates do not approve of and can tell he is not happy with. Then, one day, Scott literally meets the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers. He begins to put all of his effort into courting her, which actually manages to work. But he soon finds out that the beautiful Ramona comes with a little baggage, a league of evil exes that make it their job to control her love life. In order for Scott to be with the girl of his dreams he must fight, and defeat, her seven evil exes. Can he defeat all seven of her evil exes and get the girl before its game over?

This is director Edgar Wright’s (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) first movie away from his usual collaborators, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and it is amazing. Wright did a fantastic job making this movie and it is understandable why it took so long to shoot. It is filled with complex rapid fire shots and crazy stunts. Wright is looking to make a name for himself with this venture. On top of the amazing and energetic visuals of the movie, it also features a great soundtrack. On top of great underground sounding bands, Scott’s band, the Sex Bob-ombs (one of my favorite video game references in the movie) play, it is actually Beck performing. The music is a big part of the movie, especially considering that many of the battles take place at a battle of the bands event and other concerts.

I absolutely loved this movie, the whole time I was watching it, I had a big smile from ear to ear. I will say upfront that this movie might not be for everybody, it is definitely aimed at the more nerdy/geeky crowd. To start, instead of the usual Universal Studios logo and theme at the beginning of the movie, we are treated to an awesome 8-bit version of both. The whole movie essentially plays out like a beautiful merging of styles between comic books and video games. Throughout the movie you will constantly see onomatopoeia type words flashing on the screen with many noises and sounds. The fight/battle sequences are amazing as well as it looks like you are watching a live action video game in front of you, complete with score, health bars and when someone is defeated they turn into coins. One of my favorite video game gags in the movie is that, whenever we meet a new character a little window pops up with some of that character’s “stats”. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is simply non-stop fun and non-stop energy, it grabs hold of you in the very beginning and doesn’t let go until the credits begin to role.

Michael Cera (Paper Heart, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) plays the titular character of Scott Pilgrim. Cera does a fantastic job in this movie, breaking away, somewhat, from his usual roles. In Scott Pilgrim, he is actually pretty cool and a bit of a ladies man, not to mention, pretty bad ass. Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Live Free or Die Hard, Grindhouse) plays Ramona Flowers, the woman of Scott’s dreams. She did a great job with this role, playing it as well as anybody could, with a bit of mystery and dry humor. Alison Pill (Milk) and Mark Webber play Scott’s band mates, Kim and Stephen. These two are very entertaining in the movie. Kieran Culkin (Paper Man, Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys) is great as Scott’s roommate, Wallace Wells. Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air) is absolutely hilarious as Scott’s sister, Stacey. The seven evil exes are played by Satya Bhabba, Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, Mae Whitman, Keita Saitou, Shota Saitou and Jason Schwartzman. The movie also features Johnny Simmons, Ellen Wong, Aubrey Plaza, Brie Larson and keep an eye out for a hilarious appearance by Thomas Jane and Clifton Collins Jr.

This movie is excellent and a must see if you are a geek or a nerd of any kind. The movie is absolutely hilarious and it definitely lives up to its tagline, An Epic of Epic Epicness. I have to suggest everybody give it a look at some point, just great, pure entertainment.

Great quote: “When I’m with you, I feel like I’m on drugs, not that I do drugs, unless you do drugs, then I do lots of drugs.”

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