Review: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Whew, just got back from the midnight showing of Scott Pilgrim, and I am bushed. However, before I head off into dreamland, I'll write up a quick review.

First off, a little story. Being an avid fan of the graphic novel series that the film is based on, I read all six books sequentially in order to prepare myself for the midnight showing. I finished the final one in line outside the theatre, perfectly in time for the film to begin.
The movie starts with a humorous twist on the Universal logo, setting the tone for the following two hours, before switching quickly to a cold opening that introduces most of our main players.

Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers

Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), obviously the star of the show, who, along with Stephen Stills (Mark Webber) and Kim (Alison Pill),  is in the band Sex Bob-bomb, something that plays a larger part in the film than it did in the books. Shortly afterwards we're introduced to Wallace (Kieran Culkin), Scott's gay roommate, and eventually Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), his love interest.

The film begins in the same manner as the books, however, and only veers away from the original plotline further on in the story, though not in such a way as to disappoint fans. It could be considered an alternate universe version of the books, incredibly compressed and changing everything from book five onwards.
Several scenes have been recreated meticulously compared to the source material, with only minor dialogue changes, whereas others are entirely new or compressed, presumably to aid the transition from one media to another.

Each fight scene is a joy to watch, with cartoonish violence, comic book onomatopoeia, and points racking up with each evil ex defeated. The jokes, many of which are taken directly from the books, are hilarious, but the ones that truly stand out are completely new to the film. As has been mentioned multiple times in other reviews, there is a 'Seinfeld Scene', wherein for less than a minute the film takes on the music, camera angles, jokes, and laugh track of the 90's show. Sadly, those who know nothing or little about media (games, TV, and films), will probably miss out on much of what makes Scott Pilgrim so enjoyable.

With all it's frenetic action, popping visuals, dance-like fight choreograhy, and gaming references, it's no wonder the film so easily divides the generations, capturing the youth market whilst overly bombarding the minds of those fighting to keep up. Unfortunately, it's speed is also it's biggest flaw. Whereas the books take place over the course of a year, the film is set over a couple of weeks, allowing us to jump from one fight scene to the next more fluidly. This also makes the audience less understanding of Scott's desire to be with Ramona, and gives the feeling of rushing towards disaster. Everything wraps up nicely in the end, but I can't help wishing that an extra 15 minutes of character development and downtime was added onto the almost-two-hour film. Maybe then it would have risen more emotions in me than excitement at the visuals. I suppose that's enough, though.


I'll give the film an 8/10 - Great, but not perfect.