Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World
Cinema Nova, 13/08/2010
Status: Behind by 11 films
I think I might be in love with Edgar Wright. The writer-director has never done anything I haven’t loved - I mean loved. “Spaced”, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and now the adaptation of an indie graphic novel series that amused me rather a little bit.
Scott Pilgrim (MICHAEL CERA, Juno, Superbad) is 22 and, looking for something simple, is dating a high school girl named Knives Chau (ELLEN WONG). Emotionally, Scott is still a teenager, though, so it seems a good match. Then roller-blading Amazon.ca delivery girl Ramona Flowers (MARY ELIZABETH WINSTEAD) starts taking shortcuts through Scott’s dreams and he falls for her hard. They begin dating but to win her, Scott must defeat her seven evil exes in elaborate set-piece battles. Things, it seems, are no longer simple.
The cast are awesome, including support from ANNA KENDRICK (Up in the Air), KEIRAN CULKIN (Igby Goes Down) and JASON SCHWARTZMAN (The Darjeeling Limited, who seems to love every second he’s on set). The film is flawed (as were the books) but has an enormous sense of fun that more than makes up for it.
Bryan Lee O’Malley’s comics have a logic, character and charm all their own. Wright not only respects that, but embraces it, while also adding a terrific energy through new pacing and visuals (by about volume 4 of the 6 book series, O’Malley started to dial down the video game references, but Edgar Wright puts them front and centre to awesome visual effect). Much like Robert Rodriguez did with his 2005 adaptation of Sin City, Wright also recreates shots, dialogue and scenes from the books. There’s a lot of love in this adaptation. If he keeps making movies like this, I’d totally fight Wright’s evil exes.
