Edgar Wright is most famous for his work with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Together, the trio found success with Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and the sitcom Spaced. Here Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are absent and Edgar Wright directs a film adaptation of the comic with the same name starring Michael Cera in the title role as Scott Pilgrim.
Scott Pilgrim Taking on the World
Scott Pilgrim (Cera) is the bass-guitarist for a band “Sex Bob-omb” and (according to his friends) is suffering a form of crisis after his former girlfriend dumped him. To their chagrin he is now dating a 17-year-old high school student named Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). Soon after, he meets Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and falls instantly in love. She is a little less keen, but after managing to convince her to go on a date with him she seems to warm up to him and the two start to officially date.
Whilst at a gig, Scott is suddenly attacked by a mysterious man with strange powers, and is forced to fight for his life. Ramona then reveals to him that she has seven evil exes and if she and Scott are going to be together then he must defeat them all.
With one down Scott has six to go...
Live Action Comic Book/Video Game
It is difficult to describe the style of the film. Some parts play out like a traditional love story, others like a live action version of Mortal Combat or Tekken, whilst others border on the indescribable. Essentially the film incorporates many different elements and manages to gel them together in a way that is a lot of fun and also gives the audience something a little different.
As far as acting goes, the highlights of the film are Chris Evan and Brandon Routh as Ramona’s second and third evil exes respectively. Evans once again gives a Human Torch-esque performance as the famous Lucas Lee, however, it is Brandon Routh who steals every scene with his portrayal of Todd Ingram. Having starred as Superman in Superman Returns in 2006 it is a sheer joy to watch Routh play Ingram, a man with psychic vegan abilities, who could probably have given the man of steel a run for his money.
The two leads play their respective parts well, however, the more shallow members of the audience might wonder why Scott is going through hell for a girl that seems to have a track record of being spontaneous and changing her mind. On their first date Ramona is in bed with Scott, semi-naked, when she decides that she actually doesn’t want to have sex with him after all but tells him to stick around because she may change her mind again later on. Trying to be with someone who is like that is tricky at the best of times, and there will probably be more than one member of the audience who is hoping that in the end Scott will be transformed into yet another evil ex.
A great idea running through the core of the film is the notion that playing video games - which encourage the player to punch, kick and move as though they were in a fight - can actually train the person in real combat situations. Scott is not a tough guy, but he is an expert at various martial arts computer games, and takes those skills into the real world when facing Ramona’s evil exes.
The film is bright, loud, funny and thoroughly entertaining. The main questions audiences may have are firstly: Why, when Scott defeats an evil ex, does the ex explode into coins with the later exes turning into a lot more coins than the earlier ones? Next: are these people dead? If so is Scott not a mass murderer having travelled through the film killing not only the evil exes but also (on at least one occasion) their henchmen. Another could be: isn’t Ramona just going to get bored with Scott sooner or later and leave him too? Still such questions will not prevent the audience from getting a kick out of seeing a film that is a little different to pretty much everything else that has come before it.
4/5
Whilst Scott Pilgrim Vs the World won’t win any Oscars it is a brilliant check-your-brain-at-the-door affair and is great fun to simply sit back, watch and enjoy.
Christopher Sharman - In 2009 I self-published my first novel entitled The Darkness Saga: The Light (currently available at amazon.co.uk) which has been ...
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