Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Just one snazzy sequence following another, without any soul whatsoever. Frustratingly alienating.
You can't noodle your way around the interwebs without being blasted by Scott Pilgrim, and if you weren't hopelessly in love with the trailer, then nothing in the finished film will convince you otherwise.
Our Edgar Wright is quite rightly a national treasure, whose previous work with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost was sharp and funny, and most importantly, endearing. Heading over to America to adapt Bryan Lee O'Malley's comics, Wright has proved himself to be a visually arresting helmer (imagine all those little homage moments in Spaced with a bigger budget), but something very important's been lost along the way. For Scott Pilgrim vs The World looks fantastic and its cast have impeccable comic timing, but the whole thing is just so damn uninvolving. If the two leads are unsympathetic, then why on earth would the viewer care about their petty dramas?
A colourful, energetic, and finely-soundtracked romp through one man's petty jealousies and emotional baggage, but star Michael Cera is an actor hard to love and devoid of charm - the first obstacle. His Scott is a sponging bassist in a struggling band, Sex Bob-Omb, and when we first meet him, is in the throes of an uncomfortable but innocent romance with obsessed high school student Knives Chau (a vibrant Ellen Wong). When Scott becomes infatuated with aloof hipster Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), he is informed by his new love that he must first defeat her seven evil exes. Meanwhile, Scott is still cruelly stringing along Knives, and her subsequent portrayal as a stalker is grossly unfair - a little bit of sexism thrown in with the casual racism and homophobia for nice eye-rolling effect (Ramona's "bi-curious" phase could only have been written by a man, and Scott's gay roommate is seen as predatory, seducing Scott's sister's boyfriend - another irrational straight man fear come to life).
There, Wright's already over-the-top visual puns go into overdrive (there's only so many times you can see an actual "RIIIIING" over a phone before you start to clench your fists). Each fight sequence is striking, with your eyeballs barely able to keep up with the flashy bombardment from each corner of the screen. However, the fantasy concept is strained; it's a literal comic book come to life, so we're never really sure if it's a world where onlookers are genuinely involved in the epic superhero style face-offs, or it's all a product of Scott's imagination. Of the exes, it's only really Chris Evans and Brandon Routh that raise laughs, with the latter's "vegan superpowers" one of the few ingenious moments. The others are repetitive and emotionally pointless.
You'll either love or hate the use of retro computer game touches, which become overbearing very rapidly. The outcome of nearly every scene is punctuated with scores and extra powers, giving the impression of a two-hour in-joke for oldschool gamers. Kieran Culkin and Anna Kendrick as the aforementioned roomie and sister are the only characters based in reality and are woefully underused, and while Winstead is understandably attractive, she and Cera have zero chemistry - I honestly didn't care whether or not they ended up together.
Scott Pilgrim can be applauded for being something quite unique this year, with painstakingly smart pop culture references, and dazzling moments that other directors haven't dared to do - probably because they are just too distracting. Trouble is, it's a film that is literally just one snazzy sequence following another, without any soul whatsoever. Frustratingly alienating.
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