Review: ‘Scott Pilgrim’ Pwns Noobs

Title: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Studio: Universal Pictures
Director: Edgar Wright
Actors: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Anna Kendrick, Ellen Wong

From its opening 8-bit gag, bringing me back to some old school Nintendo goodness, I knew I was going to love this movie.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is an orgy of video game, comic, music, and pop culture references. It’s also an eye-gasm of messy proportions.

To try and explain this movie experience will only over-simplify it, but here goes. Scott Pilgrim is an under-achieving slacker who play bass in his band ‘Sex Bob-Omb’ and squats at his friend’s apartment. One night, he has a mysterious dream about a girl he’s never seen before. When he sees the same girl at a party, he’s convinced she’s the one he’s destined to be with.

But this ain’t no romantic-comedy…at least not like any you’ve ever seen before. You see, this girl has some serious baggage – in the form of a super villain-like league of evil exes. Their sole mission is to destroy Scott Pilgrim, and before he and his dream girl can be together, he will have to defeat all seven of them.

Thus sets the stage for a movie that plays like a video game and includes fight sequences that jump straight out of a comic book. Brought to us by the director of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Pilgrim shares Edgar Wright’s love of fast-paced edits and creative visuals.

Leading the cast is one of my favourite punching bags, Michael Cera. I’ve given Cera plenty of shit for taking typecast role after typecast role, rehashing the same damn Arrested Development shtick for years. But, dare I say it? He actually acts in this movie. He’s still quiet and all, but ‘Scott Pilgrim’ is not the same guy Cera always plays, and he gets to show off a bit of range. I’m as shocked as you are.

But like Kick-Ass, this is the kind of movie that a segment of the population will love to a scary degree, but the rest just won’t bother with. Maybe that’s why it’s currently not doing so hot at the box office. But the bottom line is this: Scott Pilgrim is a funny, action-filled, video game and comic-infused, hell of a good time. If the idea of film randomly using samples from Zelda as background music or suddenly breaking dialogue to enter combat a la Street Fighter sounds good to you, you’re a tremendous nerd. Also, you owe it to your nerd heart to watch this movie immediately.