The movie's based off of the Scott Pilgrim series of comic books by Bryan Lee O'Malley in the same way Fight Club was based off of the novel - in that no one gave a shit about the book until the adaptation was established, and that the adaptation is undoubtedly an improvement on the original [I read the comic books after writing this and I can tell you that the original is actually far superior :( ]. The plot, which has to be regurgitated in any review it seems, is thus: Scott Pilgrim is a twenty-something bassist of garage-rock nothing band 'Sex Bob-omb' with no apparent job, a surrounding of people who like him but belittle him, and a seventeen-year-old Chinese girlfriend. And yet, in a Brazil-esque plot device, he dreams of another girl - the enigmatic, wholesomely indie and soul-meltingly attractive Ramona Flowers. After finally realising his dream girl exists, and after a couple of fist-bitingly embarassing attempts to make conversation, the two eventually begin to date. As well as the more down-to-earth troubles Scott faces in simulatenously dating two girls at once, and being surrounded by his cruel-but-caring bandmates, roommate and younger sister, there's also the astonishing fact that in order to continue dating Ramona, Scott needs to defeat all seven of her exes, in true anime-bullshit style!
It's become a tendency of mine in recent years to seriously analyse the majority of the media I consume like the little cultural leech I am, due to one-part personal interest and two-parts pomposity. I watch pretty much everything expecting to have a basic idea of its overall quality, and yet Scott Pilgrim has defeated me with its schizophrenic energy. I mean, the movie's all over the place, it's chaotic, anarchic, and yet none of these things seem to be its downfall. The storyline's redundant, and yet you still anticipate whatever's going to happen next. The characters are underdeveloped, and yet they seem natural and understandable despite their ridiculous surroundings. And that's before we even begin to get into the movie's grasp of reality itself. As far as this film's concerned, reality isn't so much discarded as toyed with. People fly, throw fireballs, pull oversized weaponry out of their small handbags, and beat the shit out of each other without so much of a scratch, and yet all of this is accepted as fair deals. The 'super powers' are never explained (except maybe with veganism - go figure) and in all honesty that's probably for the best.
In fact, a good portion of this movie is never explained, but for some reason this never seems to be a problem. The movie doesn't run on believability as much as it runs on relatability, if you understand me. No, I don't mean that people can relate to the surreal wizardry that features throughout the movie, but I mean that this is a movie tailored almost exclusively to this generation and the previous. The whole thing is stocked with knowing references to comics and videogames, for god's sake. It's one of the whole selling points of the movie itself. I never thought I could hear the Legend of Zelda theme music on a big screen until Scott Pilgrim came along. This movie is not a lesson on love, or a gallery of characters or even, necessarily, an action thrill ride. It's something else entirely - a self-aware story of ridiculousness that exists just because it's awesome. And I have to give kudos to director Wright, whose ADD-style of chopping-board editing is perfect for this movie, and who manages to pull off making a film of this magnitude of craziness that isn't brainless, isn't too obscure, and best of all isn't so surreal as to distance itself from its audience. In all honesty, this is a very special, very unique movie indeed.
Michael Cera is, obviously, perfect for this movie. After all, there's nothing a teenager can relate to better than awkwardness and ineptitude, and Cera remains the ideal embodiment of these concepts, as well as bringing a healthy addition of likeability, charm and cool for all the nerd that's in his ever-repeating screen persona. Mary Elizabeth Winstead's great too, and not just in how she simply appears on screen - her character's got the silver screen je ne sais quoi which I'd dare to compare with such iconic bedroom-poster cinema women as Holly Golightly or Mia Wallace. She also succeeds in blending standoffish cool with a sense of deep-seated vulnerability, despite the fact her character remains brutally underwritten. And to top it all off she has great, big, beautiful eyes. So nice. The rest of the cast fill their roles with excellency, leaving the whole film with a kind of Misfits situation, where despite the unrealistic situation at hand, all the characters, or at least all the characters who aren't villains, appear to be your average and realistic Toronto youth clique, which a movie like this would live and die upon.
Like I said before, Scott Pilgrim is a schizophrenic movie. There are plenty of idiotic moments, but plenty of ingenious directorial strokes. There's also plenty of comedic flops, but also real jewels of laugh-out-loud gags (mostly to do with the hat, and of course the bit that really makes you go ':O'). The fights are astounding in that Japanophilic way our videogame generation's been raised in, but it's also great to see no one really taking the fights with a single degree of seriousness. Even when there's fireballs, full-on magic, castles, ninjas, brawls, etc, the jokes still keep coming, which is exhilarating. I mean, the exes appear to be genuinely killed without consequence. But I guess that's all part of the package. I mean, imagine how dire it'd be for the movie to try and really explain the nature behind all this fighting and supernatural nonsense. It's best that the challenges in this movie aren't so much in Scott's combat scenarios, but in relationships, past and present, and of course the success of Scott's own devoid-of-popularity band. The closest this movie gets to moral reasoning is 'self-respect > love', and the rest can be interpreted for yourself if you're as much of an analytical fuckwit as I am.
Scott Pilgrim is a movie I think I love, in the same way you might love a person. For one thing, it's early days yet. This movie is one that sticks in my mind until I can find a way to make something of it myself, like a strange new discovery. It's a film that's undeniably cult. It's somewhat of a generational milestone. No way could a collection of videogame references of this volume appear in a movie before this one. The music is from the upper echelons of hipster idolatry. It's been a bit of a box-office disappointment, but that's all part of the charm. It stands as a truly unique chunk of weirdness that can't be so easily appreciated. Whether it'll grow into the widespread cult phenomenon of the new decade that I believe it deserves to be remains to be seen, but I don't think I can stress enough how much of a beautiful freak this movie is. I think I love it. I suggest you go see it for yourself to see what you yourself can make of it. I'd even suggest that you need to.
I wouldn't recommend a trailer, a trailer wouldn't do this film justice. Instead, here's another picture of Ramona for me to dote over. Any good?
