Live Review

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World –

• 16th Aug 2010

22-year-old Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), jobless bass guitarist for the band Sex Bob-omb, has just met the (literal) girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). But, the course of true love never did run smooth and Scott must battle Ramona’s seven evil exes to the death to win her heart. Based on Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novels, director Edgar Wright (Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) has created a visual feast full of eye-popping action and successful comedy from an admittedly slight premise.

Michael Cera, previously teetering on the edge of typecasting (indie music-loving slacker schtick) breathes new life into his repertoire as a surprisingly believable martial-arts/sword wielding badass. Ramona, played beautifully by Winstead, is initially too cool to be completely likeable, but grows into a girl worthy of Scott’s blind adulation making the lack of discernable chemistry between the two leads ultimately immaterial. Kieran Culkin steals scenes left, right and centre as Scott’s gay room-mate and Anna Kendrick shines as his nagging sister, once again showing (albeit fairly briefly) that the Twilight series definitely won’t be the pinnacle of her career. The members of Sex Bob-omb (Kim Pine, Stephen Stills and Johnny Simmons), though slightly under-used, have their fair share of killer one-liners (“if your life had a face, I’d punch it”) and newcomer Ellen Wong as Knives Chau delivers a poignant performance as Scott’s spurned ex.

The evil exes all look like they’re having a blast and you almost wish they had a bit more screen-time each. Stand-out performances come from Chris Evans, Captain America no less, sending himself up as Lucas Lee, Ramona’s second evil ex and “pretty good” action movie star; Brandon Routh as Todd Ingram, evil ex number 3 who has telekinetic powers as a result of his vegan diet (obviously); and Mae Whitman as Roxanne “Roxie” Richter (yes, she’s a girl, and she’s “bi-furious”). Jason Schwartzman also has a ball as Gideon Gordon Graves, evil mastermind and final boss.

Retro computer game references and sound effects are rife (Mario, Zelda, Sonic, Streetfighter, etc.) along with a healthy helping of “splats” and “kapows”—enough to summon up fond memories of pre-Christopher Nolan campy-Batman. Sex Bob-omb’s tunes comes courtesy of Beck and the thumping bass of the soundtrack is the perfect backdrop to some kick-ass fight scenes. Split screen is used to great effect and the stylised visuals and brightly coloured set pieces are exactly like old-school beat-em-up videogames with point scoring, level-ups and extra lives.

Watching films by Edgar Wright is always an enjoyable experience, but can sometimes make you feel that there’s an exclusive fanboy club (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost being founder members) that you’re not a member of—his DVDs come with a “homage-o-meter” so the uninitiated can spot even the most obscure references. Scott Pilgrim offers more of the same but with enough mainstream nods that even the most part-time geek will feel like they’re in on the (often hysterical) joke. The somewhat thin premise and lack of a discernable back story (why does he have to battle the exes?) may grate on some and it’s unlikely to appeal to the pre-Nintendo/MTV generations, but then, it’s not meant to.

A noisy, kinetic, genre-busting (rom-com/martial arts/musical/manga) hybrid of a film, you’ll leave with a smile on your face. And possibly a busted eardrum.