"SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD"
Director- Edgar Wright
Writers- Edgar Wright & Michael Bacall
Based on the "Scott Pilgrim" graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O'Malley
Starring:
Michael Cera- Scott Pilgrim
Mary Elizabeth Winstead- Ramona Flowers
Kieran Culkin- Wallace Wells
Ellen Wong- Knives Chau
Alison Pill- Kim Pine
Mark Webber- Stephen Stills
Johnny Simmons- Young Neil
Anna Kendrick- Stacey Pilgrim
Brie Larson- Envy Adams
Aubrey Plaza- Julie Powers
AND AS THE LEAGUE OF EVIL EXES:
1) Satya Bhabha- Matthew Patel
2) Chris Evans- Lucas Lee
3) Brandon Routh- Todd Ingram
4) Mae Whitman- Roxy Richter
5) Shota Saito- Kyle Katayanagi
6) Keita Saito- Ken Katayanagi
7) Jason Schwartzman- Gideon Graves
Clerks. Wayne's World. Street Fighter 2. Super Mario Bros. Chasing Amy. Legend of Zelda. Kill Bill. Kung Fu Hustle. Reality Bites. Roll all of those up into a ball and shoot it out of a cannon, the resulting explosion of awesome is close to the 1:57 nerdgasm that is "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World." Director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, the TV series "Spaced") is now three for three in nailing niche genres. This is a love letter to kids of the 80's and 90's, replete with relationship baggage, self-discovery, a killer soundtrack, and enough geek references to give Comic Book Guy another heart attack.
The film follows Scott Pilgrim (Cera,) a 22-year-old slacker from Toronto. He is being hounded by his friends over his romantic involvement with Knives Chau (Wong,) s 17-year-old Chinese schoolgirl. Their largely innocent relationship hits a major snag after Scott meets his literal dream girl, the American delivery girl Ramona Flowers (Winstead.) He pursues her obsessively, winning her over with his persistance and nerd charm. This leads to him very awkwardly splitting with the clearly-enamored Knives, confronting the girl that broke his heart, Envy Adams (Larson,)dealing with his gay, well-intentioned gossip of a roommate Wallace Wells(Culkin,) his overbearing sister Stacey(Kendrick,) her bitchy coworker, Julie Powers (Plaza,) and the mounting tensions with his Sex Bob-Omb bandmates Stephen Stills (Webber,) Kim Pine (Pill,) and their alternate bassist/groupie Young Neil (Simmons.)
Of course, the meat of the story is the ultimatum/catalyst: in order to continue seeing Ramona, Scott must defeat her 7 Evil Exes. The League consists of Mathew Patel (Bhabha,) a fireball-spamming emo kid; Lucas Lee (Evans,) the egotistical pro skater-turned-mediocre actor; Todd Ingram (Routh,) Envy's vegan/telekinetic replacement for Scott; Roxy Richter (Whitman,) a self-conscious half-ninja; Ken and Kyle Katayanagi (the brothers Saito,) twin Japanese rockstars and tech savants; and the ringleader, indie producer/control freak swordsman Gideon Graves (Schwartzman.) As he runs the gauntlet, the ordeal begins to wear on his body, mind and ego, as he discovers he may not quite be the innocent hero-of-his-own-life he thinks he is.
First, let me note that while I knew the basic plot, I did not read the books before seeing the film (rare in my case.) However, I know from a well-versed friend that the film is incredibly faithful to the GN's, diverting only in cases where the story could potentially drag (condensing 1 volume into two hours is not easy, let alone 6. Ask M. Night Shyamalan.)
The casting was impeccable. Michael Cera has not been this enjoyable since Superbad. He gives Scott a natural quirky charm, which works much better than in other films of his. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is very muted in this movie, even blunt at times. Still the chemistry with Cera is such where you believe Scott would fall for her (and more impressively, that SHE could fall for HIM.)
The supporting cast is all well acted, especially Ellen Wong, who give a performance that far exceeds her career length. Also noteworthy are Anna Kendrick as Stacey and Johnny Simmons as Young Neil. The standout of the background bunch can be none other than Kieran Culkin, who steals any scene he's in as the sharp-witted manslut Wallace Wells. He alternates between endearing compassion and general for-the-lulz jackassery that makes him the best of the stellar supporting players.
As we all know, a story like this hinges on its villains. The League of Evil Exes range from cool to phenomenal. As the Katyanagi Twins, Shota and Keita Saito don't speak a word, but their techniques, icy stares and synchronized fury say all they need to. Satya Bhabha is great as Matthew Patel, somehow managing to fuse martial arts, fireballs, Bollywood and emo-pirate style and still come off as a threat. Mae Whitman (the voice of Katara for all you fellow Avatar fans,) is a treat as the raging street kunoichi Roxy. As the kingpin of the league, Gideon Graves is played to the nines by Jason Schwartzman. Slimy, domineering, pretentious, and fully self-involved, he serves as a perfect nemesis and mirror for Scott as he battles his way to the apex of the pyramid (literally as well as figuratively.)
However, the best of the evil exes are, ironically, Superman and Captain America. Chris Evans brings an over-the-top pomposity to Lucas Lee, yet still manages to have moments of devious affability. The voice and the look are even funnier when you keep in mind the character is an overblown Jason Lee parody. Brandon Routh completely departs the Big Blue Boyscout image to embody Todd Ingram, the vegan, telekinetic, girl-punching, borderline Super Saiyan bassist of the Clash at Demonhead, fronted by Scott's ex Envy Adams. The bass battle is one of the most inventive confrontations I've ever seen, and his defeat is hilariawesome. (Yeah, I had to make a new word for it. ) Pay attention to the shirt Todd wears in the Clash at Demonhead set, as there's a big fanboy payoff later.
Speaking of the bass battle, the soundtrack is impeccable. A joint effort between Beck, Nigel Godrich, Metric, Cornelius, Dan the Automator, Kid Koala, Broken Social Scene, and David Campbell had my heels tapping for half the runtime. They even worked in a classic Zelda song perfectly.
The dialog is all great, and anyone born between 1982 and 1995 should find themselves thinking "I could see myself saying that" more than once. None of the dialog was funny that wasn't meant to be, and the comic timing was priceless.
The visuals were the perfect compliment to the over-the-top story. There were tons of videogame staples, Batman style onomatopoeia, and comic style editing that technically surpasses even Hot Fuzz. Everything felt organic, especially given the characters' acceptance of all the fantastic things going on around them.
However, the thing about this movie that most impressed me is the action. Everyone handled their fight scenes well, doing at least the majority of their own stuntwork, and the Sreet Fighter-esque visuals did nothing but amplify the whoopass. Given that most of the cast are relative unknowns, and certainly not widely known for fighting prowess (except Wong, a tae kwon do blackbelt,) this is even more pleasant a surprise. I find it ironic that the most action-oriented names (Routh and Evans) did near the least in the way of actual fighting (their scenes are nonetheless badass.) Cera is hands down the most surprising, handling the action well enough that I actually wouldn't question his casting in a more action oriented role from here on in. Power-up Alert- [MICHAEL CERA EARNED KYATOLLAH'S RESPECT.]
It is clear that Edgar Wright loves the original books, as well as the culture they represent. The congruity of it was such that only a Gen X'er could have brought to it. If you're at all a fan of the books, video games, CBM's and/or any of the cast, you owe it to yourself to see this movie. It's upsetting that the movie is doing so poorly in the box office, and I will be doing my part soon to change that. I have already adjusted my budget for my acquisition of the books, soundtracks, game, and the DVD. NEVER been able to say that before.
Kyatollah's rating- 9.5 KO's out of 10.