Scott Pilgrim Vs The World

Rating: *****

Sometimes the ignorance of the movie-going public is astounding. They’ll line-up for anything remade, animated, or done in 3-D, but a blisteringly original and energetic work of film, let’s skip that to see something that’s supposed to be for 10-year-olds. That may be a little harsh, but it really does flabbergast me about where the mentality of people that go to the cinema is. I could watch SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD again. I could watch right after I watched it. That’s how good this is. At least in my opinion.

Based on the graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O’Malley, SCOTT PILGRIM is zany, colourful and most importantly heartfelt. It looks pretty, but it’s got heart, which is what separates this film from the pack. That and its oozing in maple syrup love of Canadiana (or at least Torontoniana) as director Edgar Wright really nails something authentic about his hyperactive, comic book version of Hogtown that comes complete with all sorts of video game sound effects.

At the heart of the story is the boy-meets-girl drama between the titular unemployed slacker (played by Michael Cera) and the hipster, pink-haired love of his life named Ramona V. Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Naturally, the course of true love never does run smooth, and as a result, Scott must battle Ramona’s Seven Evil Exes in order to win her heart. Along the way, Scott must also help his band, The Sex Bob-Ombs, to ascend the Battle of the Bands to win a record contract and “sell out and stuff.”

That’s really kind of the bare minimum in terms of plot description because there’s really so much going on every minute of the film that you could write a 1,500 world plot breakdown. What’s really interesting is that there are a lot of characters in the film, and this can be dangerous because there’s a limited time to tell a story with little time for deviation into a side-character’s wacky antics. Not that the time issue is different with SCOTT PILGRIM, but there are a lot of characters and they’re all very well drawn.

At the centre of it all is Cera, who, while playing the sardonic slacker yet again, finds the material fitting his rather one note delivery. I think this is the fate of Michael Cera, destined to a career of finding the right scripts and right directors to suit his one note tone. Fortunately for him, SCOTT PILGRIM is all aces. As Scott’s soulmate Ramona, Winstead practically dares you not to fall for her, with her candy-coated hair, those eyes that had to have been taken right from the head of a Disney Princess and driest of the dry line deliveries. Winstead is definitely the girl you’d fight seven evil exes for, with a sardonic sass that makes her even more desirable.

Speaking of those evil exes, it’s practically a parade of geek friendly cameos. From future Captain America Chris Evans doing meathead macho right as skater/actor Lucas Lee, to former-Superman Brandon Routh as super-powered vegan Todd Ingram, to the once and future Max Fischer Jason Schwartzman as the Lex Luthor-like organizer of the evil exes, Gideon Graves, these guys are golden. And in an inspired bit of injoke casting, Cera’s ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT girlfriend Mae Whitman (her?) plays the bi-furious Roxy Richter.

If there’s a breakout star – if you can call him that considering that he’s spent all but eight of his 28 years in show business – it’s Kieran Culkin as Scott’s best friend Wallace Wells. Culkin steals a lot of the scenes he’s in, not to mention a lot of the best lines in the movie. I think I would love to see a movie about Wallace’s solo adventures, living his life according to the double standard code of Liberace’s Ghost and not caring who knows it. But honestly, I can’t pick out a bad actor in this thing.

Perhaps what trips up people is SCOTT PILGRIM’S unabashed love of modern pop culture in general and video games in particular. Things like “pee bars” and fighting your enemies until they explode into coins, or fighting the negative version of yourself in order to win the prize (or the girl in this case), should go down well with the current generation, who grew up, like me, on the original 8-bit Nintendo. It surprises me that it hasn’t translated, but I suppose that’s how cult classics are born.

I have little doubt that in the months and years to come, especially when it hits video shelves, SCOTT PILGRIM will find its audience. It’ll find the small and vocal, who will continue to sing its praises until they start fighting over who “discovered it” first. On second thought, that’s pretty much where this movie was always meant to be. SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD is a cult film made with studio money, and that, by me, is alright because I’ll do everything I can to make sure that I get $60 million worth of enjoyment out of it in the years to come.