SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD Review
[Tomorrow is the strongest release day of the year and so we are
taking the opportunity to pull our reviews of the key new release titles
back up to the top of the stack.]
Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim Vs The World is a great many things. It is a love story for the comic book age. It is the story of a slacker forced to grow up. It is a kick ass fight spectacle. It is a nostalgic glance back on the golden age of eight bit video games. It is a blazing soundtrack brought to vivid life on screen. It is a coming out party for a cadre of young stars. It is arguably the most unusual and unlikely big studio film since The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The Eighth Dimension. It is director Wright's chance to prove himself as a formidable talent all on his own, removed from the comfortable environs of the UK, his own original source material and his cozy working partnership with Shaun of the Dead and The Hot Fuzz collaborators Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. But, most of all, it is one of the greatest graphic novel adaptations ever to hit the screen, an absolute blast from start to finish, a film that sets the bar for itself almost impossibly high and then hits every single mark along the way.
For those unfamiliar with the source material, here's the core of the story. Scott Pilgrim is a young man in his early twenties. He lives in Toronto. He is perpetually unemployed, scraping by largely thanks to the goodwill of his gay roommate Wallace with whom he shares a bed in a platonic manner. He is unmotivated and self absorbed, though in a mostly charming rather than obnoxious way. He plays bass in a middling band called Sex Bob-omb and is still getting over the break up of the only serious relationship he has had in his life a year before, the girl he thought was the one ditching him when her own band became a success. To help get over this relationship he has started dating a seventeen year old, Chinese high school girl named Knives Chau. This relationship works because it is non-threatening. But then Scott meets the beautiful and aloof Ramona Flowers, a girl from New York moved to Toronto to get away from a bad relationship of her own and Scott is immediately smitten. Never mind Knives - but don't tell her about it either, because that would be too hard - Scott must have Ramona. Too bad she has a League of Seven Evil Exes who any prospective new boyfriend must fight and defeat to have a chance with her.
Immediately you see the primary difficulty with bringing Scott Pilgrim to screen. This is a big story with multiple plot threads, several major characters, and lots of stuff happening all the time. On the printed page it spans six volumes which here have to be compressed into a single film. On the most basic level anyone attempting the task will have to find a way to have Scott face seven major challenges in a less-than-two-hour run time while also giving each of the characters enough time to breath and grow so that the film doesn't just feel like a mad dash from one fight to the next. Remarkably, Wright does this and does it well. With the direct involvement of Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O'Malley, Wright and co-screenwriter Michael Bacall have managed to translate the story to the screen in a way that both honors the source while also recognizing and taking advantage of the differences between mediums. When it suits them they import comic book conventions - such as captioning - as a sort of informational short hand, a way of feeding the audience information without having to break the pace, while also breaking out a whole new bag of cinematic tricks. But more than trickery, what makes the adaptation really work is Wright's sure handed grasp of character and ability to use every moment - particularly the fight sequences - not just to entertain but also to advance and expand his characters. The fights against the League aren't just moments of flashy entertainment - though they are very, very entertaining - but also prime moments where we learn more about Scott, Ramona and, to a degree, Knives.
The quality writing would be useless if not backed up by a solid cast and Scott Pilgrim Versus the World has that through and through. There is not a single weak point here. Michael Cera proves as Scott that he can be significantly more than Arrested Development's George Michael. Kieran Culkin steals virtually every scene he is in as Wallace, Ellen Wong is note perfect as the in-love-for-the-first-time Knives Chau, Johnny Simmons has the sort of awkward charm that screams movie star in the making as Young Neil, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead hits all the marks as Ramona. One the villain side Brandon Routh, Chris Evans and Jason Schwartzman are the big standouts with Routh and Evans showing off their seldom-seen comic sides while Schwartzman gets to be all hipster slimy while busting out his action moves.
Which brings us to the action. Fantastic. the goal seems to have been to walk a tightrope somewhere between realism and full on Looney Toons cartoon physics with a dash of video game influence tossed in and they hit the sweet spot dead on. The fight team is fantastic, the camera work kinetic, and Michael Cera - believe it or not - is completely believable. It certainly helps his cause that he's meant to be a bit of a dorky, clueless fighter rather than a hardass killing machine but the big shock of this film is how well Cera steps up to the physical demands of his role.
And now all the little side touches. The defeated villains exploding into coins. The Street Fighter style intros to the fights. The killer soundtrack populated by real life indie icons from Canada and beyond. The use of actual locations from the books wherever possible and the spot-on recreation of those that no longer exist as they once did - such as the iconic interior of rock bar Lee's Palace. If the devil is in the details then Satan is running rampant throughout this picture because it is one of the most lovingly detailed films to hit the big screen in years and one of the most lovingly pro-Toronto films ever. While those who don't live in the city may not appreciate the specifics of that as much as those of us who do, the rich layering in of so much detail is a huge positive.
Creating such an unusual film on such a large scale was a ballsy move for Wright and his backers at Universal, one that required a great deal of vision and dedication. We'll know in a week whether they'll be rewarded for their vision on a business level but as far as the film itself goes, they could not have done any better. This is not only the best studio picture of the summer but of the year so far and only the long standing bias against comedy and genre film will prevent it from being richly rewarded come award season.
Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim Vs The World is a great many things. It is a love story for the comic book age. It is the story of a slacker forced to grow up. It is a kick ass fight spectacle. It is a nostalgic glance back on the golden age of eight bit video games. It is a blazing soundtrack brought to vivid life on screen. It is a coming out party for a cadre of young stars. It is arguably the most unusual and unlikely big studio film since The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The Eighth Dimension. It is director Wright's chance to prove himself as a formidable talent all on his own, removed from the comfortable environs of the UK, his own original source material and his cozy working partnership with Shaun of the Dead and The Hot Fuzz collaborators Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. But, most of all, it is one of the greatest graphic novel adaptations ever to hit the screen, an absolute blast from start to finish, a film that sets the bar for itself almost impossibly high and then hits every single mark along the way.
For those unfamiliar with the source material, here's the core of the story. Scott Pilgrim is a young man in his early twenties. He lives in Toronto. He is perpetually unemployed, scraping by largely thanks to the goodwill of his gay roommate Wallace with whom he shares a bed in a platonic manner. He is unmotivated and self absorbed, though in a mostly charming rather than obnoxious way. He plays bass in a middling band called Sex Bob-omb and is still getting over the break up of the only serious relationship he has had in his life a year before, the girl he thought was the one ditching him when her own band became a success. To help get over this relationship he has started dating a seventeen year old, Chinese high school girl named Knives Chau. This relationship works because it is non-threatening. But then Scott meets the beautiful and aloof Ramona Flowers, a girl from New York moved to Toronto to get away from a bad relationship of her own and Scott is immediately smitten. Never mind Knives - but don't tell her about it either, because that would be too hard - Scott must have Ramona. Too bad she has a League of Seven Evil Exes who any prospective new boyfriend must fight and defeat to have a chance with her.
Immediately you see the primary difficulty with bringing Scott Pilgrim to screen. This is a big story with multiple plot threads, several major characters, and lots of stuff happening all the time. On the printed page it spans six volumes which here have to be compressed into a single film. On the most basic level anyone attempting the task will have to find a way to have Scott face seven major challenges in a less-than-two-hour run time while also giving each of the characters enough time to breath and grow so that the film doesn't just feel like a mad dash from one fight to the next. Remarkably, Wright does this and does it well. With the direct involvement of Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O'Malley, Wright and co-screenwriter Michael Bacall have managed to translate the story to the screen in a way that both honors the source while also recognizing and taking advantage of the differences between mediums. When it suits them they import comic book conventions - such as captioning - as a sort of informational short hand, a way of feeding the audience information without having to break the pace, while also breaking out a whole new bag of cinematic tricks. But more than trickery, what makes the adaptation really work is Wright's sure handed grasp of character and ability to use every moment - particularly the fight sequences - not just to entertain but also to advance and expand his characters. The fights against the League aren't just moments of flashy entertainment - though they are very, very entertaining - but also prime moments where we learn more about Scott, Ramona and, to a degree, Knives.
The quality writing would be useless if not backed up by a solid cast and Scott Pilgrim Versus the World has that through and through. There is not a single weak point here. Michael Cera proves as Scott that he can be significantly more than Arrested Development's George Michael. Kieran Culkin steals virtually every scene he is in as Wallace, Ellen Wong is note perfect as the in-love-for-the-first-time Knives Chau, Johnny Simmons has the sort of awkward charm that screams movie star in the making as Young Neil, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead hits all the marks as Ramona. One the villain side Brandon Routh, Chris Evans and Jason Schwartzman are the big standouts with Routh and Evans showing off their seldom-seen comic sides while Schwartzman gets to be all hipster slimy while busting out his action moves.
Which brings us to the action. Fantastic. the goal seems to have been to walk a tightrope somewhere between realism and full on Looney Toons cartoon physics with a dash of video game influence tossed in and they hit the sweet spot dead on. The fight team is fantastic, the camera work kinetic, and Michael Cera - believe it or not - is completely believable. It certainly helps his cause that he's meant to be a bit of a dorky, clueless fighter rather than a hardass killing machine but the big shock of this film is how well Cera steps up to the physical demands of his role.
And now all the little side touches. The defeated villains exploding into coins. The Street Fighter style intros to the fights. The killer soundtrack populated by real life indie icons from Canada and beyond. The use of actual locations from the books wherever possible and the spot-on recreation of those that no longer exist as they once did - such as the iconic interior of rock bar Lee's Palace. If the devil is in the details then Satan is running rampant throughout this picture because it is one of the most lovingly detailed films to hit the big screen in years and one of the most lovingly pro-Toronto films ever. While those who don't live in the city may not appreciate the specifics of that as much as those of us who do, the rich layering in of so much detail is a huge positive.
Creating such an unusual film on such a large scale was a ballsy move for Wright and his backers at Universal, one that required a great deal of vision and dedication. We'll know in a week whether they'll be rewarded for their vision on a business level but as far as the film itself goes, they could not have done any better. This is not only the best studio picture of the summer but of the year so far and only the long standing bias against comedy and genre film will prevent it from being richly rewarded come award season.
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