I am a gamer. The ideas of health bars, 1-ups and enemies bursting into coins are not alien to me; they are ones I grew up with. That makes me, it seems, the kind of audience Edgar Wright’s latest film – Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World – is aiming for, which is both its biggest strength and greatest weakness. It is filled with so many references to not only classic video games but also television, comics and movies, that it becomes something of a pop culture cocktail that will have would-be nerds salivating into their popcorn, though it may find the uninitiated’s interest waning at what seems to be a meaningless mess of bright lights and flying fists.
Scott Pilgrim, played fantastically by Michael Cera, is a charmingly awkward slacker from Toronto who finds himself falling in love with the girl of his dreams (literally), Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Yes, this is Cera playing yet another clueless, hopeless romantic, but having read the series of graphic novels the movie is based on I find it hard to imagine anybody else stepping into the shoes of the nerdy layabout – he captures the geeky nature of the character perfectly. And this is a character that is well fleshed-out; he is a flawed individual and his actions are not all one-hundred percent honourable, making for a surprisingly interesting hero to follow. Other characters are also brilliantly realised in their transition from print to big screen: newcomer Ellen Wong puts in a great turn as Scott’s initial high school girlfriend, Knives Chau, and Alison Pill as drummer Kim Pine is divinely sarcastic, providing a great launch pad for much of the film’s humour, while Jason Schwartzman gives us a terrifically loathsome villain to hate upon.
Even though the rest of the cast are stellar in their performances, none of the characters bar Scott’s nearest and dearest are fleshed out anywhere near as much as they should be. It is disappointing that a roster of such fantastic characters in the graphic novels suffer from such neutered development, though any film attempting to fit a series of six books into a two hour slot was inevitably destined for severe cuts, and in all fairness the movie works wonders with the runtime it has, but one can’t help wonder how much more gold could have been mined out of the source material had the story been split across two or three instalments.
The time Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World does have is spent primarily on action. Scott must defeat his new girlfriend’s seven evil exes if he wishes to keep dating her, and this is where the true meat of the film lies. Essentially being a romantic comedy, it was very surprising to see how well choreographed the fight scenes turned out. These were some of the most stylish, frantic and down-right absurd battles to grace cinema screens since this summer’s blockbuster Inception or even the past decade’s Matrix trilogy, with the entire cast involved being very convincing in combat. Who knew Michael Cera could be such a bad ass?
This is also where the heavy-hitting video game references come into play, with health bars and hit points flying into the air, oversized weapons being pulled out of nowhere and enemies bursting into coins. This isn't taking into account the plethora of sound bytes from games such as Zelda, Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog, as well as a Sims-like “pee bar” that appears when Scott visits the bathroom. Realism certainly is not top priority in this film, but Edgar Wright implements them in such a way that by the time the movie has reached the first ‘boss battle’ everything falls into place and even the most over-the-top moments flow naturally from the narrative. Video game fans will rejoice at moments like these, while others may get the joke or miss the point completely.
The editing also deserves major praise. Little moments like whenever Scott’s hair is mentioned and he is suddenly shown wearing a hat in the next shot or having conversations take place over numerous timeframes and locations go a long way to give the film that comic book feel without seeming overtly gimmicky.
The final piece of this epic puzzle is the music. Bands play a huge part in the graphic novels and this adaptation is no different. Scott’s band Sex Bob-Omb (yes, that’s another gaming reference!) sound exactly like I imagined they would when reading the book; absolutely terrible but great and infectious at the same time. The other numerous bands throughout the film all have great songs written by real musicians like Beck and Metric and they fit the feel of the film perfectly. Not forgetting the excellent score composed by Nigel Godrich featuring 8-bit style tracks that really completes the atmosphere, the best example possibly being before the movie even begins: an 8-bit rendition of the Universal Studios theme and logo.
Despite poor character development and a somewhat rushed second half, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is a fantastic movie that is the best possible adaptation of the graphic novels any fan could wish for, as well as being a great stand-alone experience that anyone who enjoys being entertained will love. Some may be turned off by the frantic pace and the tidal wave of pop culture references – it is certainly a piece for the MTV generation – but I have no problem recommending it to anybody willing to give it the chance it deserves.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
