Film Reviews

Scott Pilgrim vs the World

• Rating:
• Director: Edgar Wright
• Starring: Anna Kendrick
• Details: US/111mins 12A

Despite being funny, innovative and moving at a break-neck pace, this offbeat but frantic genre hybrid may be a little too niche for the masses. It would require at least a passing knowledge in the world of computer games to fully comprehend, while having read the popular comic it's based on is preferable, but hardly mandatory. What director and co-writer Edgar Wright has done here is render affable leading man Michael Cera purposefully cool, without sacrificing any of his impeccable comic-timing.
Cera is the titular Scott Pilgrim, a lothario bass player with the garage band, Sex Bob-omb, who has fallen hopelessly in love with Mary Elizabeth Winstead's grungy and mysterious Ramona. After pursuing her with admirable persistency, Scott is tasked with battling seven of her evil ex's - if he wants to win her heart. When he least expects it, these undesirables turn up, one-by-one, bidding to do battle for Ramona, and Scott must dispose of them before they take his missus, shatter his heart and kill him.
By its very nature a disjointed and choppy affair, Edgar Wright is attempting to do something different, in how he structures and executes his film. The editing is whiplash fast, cutting almost nonsensically at points, making it feel like it's always a step ahead of its audience, but rarely slowing down the pace to let audience members of the broader spectrum to figure out what is going on. In saying that, the set-up is simple and if the execution wasn't so ostentatious, it would probably be considered character driven affair by most.
You just need to be on board with Wright, Cera and co. from the start to really enjoy Scott Pilgrim. After a stylish and (somewhat deafening) introduction to the core and peripheral characters, it will have already alienated a considerable amount of blow-in cinema goers, but delighted the rest. Those that stuck around will be treated to more of the same, as Wright shows surprisingly strong skillset when it comes to handling action sequences. He's really come along as a director, and although it can feel like it's rammed down your throat at points, his directorial flourishes bring the source material screaming to life.
Cera has his distracters, but the man is funny; here he's out of his comfort zone and forced into situations as opposed to talking around them. Just like Wright, he's a perfect fit for the work, and is backed up by a scene-stealing Kieran Culkin, while Chris Evans, Jason Swartzman and Brandon Routh all offer noteworthy adversaries.
Stylish, funny and unique, with a cracking soundtrack, this will be a divisive cinema going experience for sure; generally that's what happens when much-loved cult films are released at first.

Review by Mike Sheridan