An Epic in all its 8-Bit Glory

There should be an 'Evil Exes' prenump for all relationships.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

starring Michael Cera, Alison Pill, Johnny Simmons, Kieran Culkin, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Hader, Clifton Collins Jr., Thomas Jane

directed by Edgar Wright

The name Edgar Wright is nearly synonymous with truly great Brit humor. I mean, if you’ve never heard of Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz, you’ve been living under a rock for the last six years. So it seems a bit odd that Wright’s third major film is based on the six volume graphic novel series about a young Canadian slacker called Scott Pilgrim. Its not set in England, its not an original screenplay, and it doesn’t star Simon Pegg; Scott Pilgrim is unlike anything Edgar Wright has attempted before. Should be interesting.

Welcome to Toronto, Canada and to the life of twenty three year old Scott Pilgrim (Cera). He’s in between jobs, lives across the street from his parents with his gay roommate Wallace (Culkin), and plays bass in the small local band Sex Bob-omb. Scott is described by his friends as self involved and neurotic when it comes to his girlfriends, and these traits are especially on display with his current fling with a high school-er. But all that changes when an American girl named Ramona Flowers (Winstead) rolls out of his dreams and into his life. Scott becomes enthralled, stumbles head over heels to be with her, and eventually succeeds despite himself. But here’s the catch; Ramona’s last boyfriend, Gideon Graves (Schwartzman) has started the League of Evil Exes out of all of Ramona’s ex-lovers. Scott Pilgrim must fight and defeat all of the seven evil exes to be with Ramona. Can Scott make it through these video game-esque battles, find self respect, save Ramona, and still make it to the Battle of the Bands?

I can say this without any doubt in my mind; you have never seen anything quite like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. It is a strange and intriguing mash up of video game nostalgia and manga style production. Thought boxes pop up on screen to tell you its the next day, meanwhile, elsewhere, etc. Each phone rings with ‘ring’ spelled out across the screen. All of the actors seems to move in quick, jerky, action poses much like the panels in a comic book. Each battle between Scott and an evil ex is presented with a digital ‘vs’ between the two, a la Mortal Kombat. When Scott defeats someone they disappear and leave behind coins and Scott, quite literally, gets experience points. Even the Universal logo and theme song is done in classic Nintendo 8-bit style. It is definitely an odd combination, but it doesn’t take much to buy into it from the start. Its quirky, cool, entertaining, and yes; there’s more zinging one liners than you can count.

However, the true testament to the film’s integrity is the story beneath all of the video game fights and literal comic book notions; Scott Pilgrim is about relationships and the emotions that go with them. Scott fighting through seven evil ex showdowns is representing working through someone’s past. When you date someone, at some point in time the exes are going to come up, and you’ll be measured by who they are and what they’ve done wrong. In the case of Gideon, Ramona claims that he can ‘get in her head’ by implanting a computer chip on her for mind control. This is representing how hard it is to let go of a relationship and get them out of your head. The film is full of this kind of allegorical representation. Its a young and emotional romance told through the eyes of a video game and comic book influenced slacker generation. As far as I’m concerned, Edgar Wright has crafted something wholly different, exciting, and inspiring.

The relatively young cast brings a nearly over-the-top level of camp to the film, and it works. Michael Cera is a combination of the quiet and nerdy guy we’re used to seeing him play and a quite heroic and cartoonish action hero. Plainly, he pulls it off deftly. I love Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s roles in Sky High, Death Proof, and Live Free or Die Hard. She’s been a young talent to watch, and she definitely further proved herself in the role of Ramona: edgy, sarcastic, aloof, and almost tragic, all at the same time. Kieran Culkin captures the most humor out of the cast as Wallace, and Anna Kendrick masters the role of nosy little sister as Stacey Pilgrim. As for the evil exes, Chris Evans and Brandon Routh play the best roles as hilarious lampoons of themselves. But the best cameos of all are for Thomas Jane and Clifton Collins Jr. as the Vegan Police; and that’s all I’ll say about that.

It should also be noted that a huge part of this movie is about the music, and the filmmakers pull it off tremendously. Not only is the soundtrack pretty modern and rockin’, the film even contains several original songs for Sex Bob-omb. From grunge like rock riffs to techno inspired electronic music, the soundtrack perfectly pairs with the on screen story.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World could easily be the High Fidelity for this new and young generation; the problem will be getting people out to see it. Not only is the trailer vague, but it is also kind of out there visually. Its pigeon holed for comic book and video game lovers and unfortunately, that group doesn’t sell the greater viewing public on the film. The film does contain a few lulls, and almost makes the double ending mistake of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. But those small things aside, Edgar Wright has crafted something wonderfully different of which the true social value will probably not be recognized for years. The tragedy here is that most won’t see it, and some of those who do won’t get it.