Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

There is no other movie quite like Scott Pilgrim. It's like watching a comic book video game put to screen. The action is insane, over the top and super high energy with wonderfully creative framing and visual cues.

Going back and watching it again, it's amazing how many people are in this before they were huge. Brie Larson, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick just to name a few. The visuals still hold up, as does the pointed commentary on hipsters.

Great music, great action, great performances. It's all around a fantastic experience. The only real downside to me is that it's based on something with a lot of content and in an effort to put a lot in here there are some moments that feel... Off. Areas where the graphic novel likely went into great detail yet the movie has to just sort of pop it in and run with it. These are mostly minor but it still prevents this from being absolutely perfect.

Teenager problems (find yourself, get real, etc.) might not give anything to people considering themselves mayor adults, but consider this is a movie built on arcade video gaming motifs, I don't think it concerns mayor adults at all in the first place. I for one did not necessarily long for dark moral drama in this particular movie at all, I think the story was just about right for this movie, but you decide, if this is childish watch Haneke.

Now for the rest: Surprisingly, Scott Pilgrim features the best martial arts scenes in years. Every fight is choreographed and executed in the most awesome ways and the fact that it's not Jet Lee pulling off these moves makes it even more fun to watch. And you get the fights absolutely frequently which is really, really satisfying. The editing is incredibly skillful as probably the most crucial element that makes this work. It gives the movie an incredible rhythm, reaching new levels of dynamism and the use of CGI and the visual design is plain fantastic. The amount of creativity put into this part is mind- blowing, resulting genuine and most original style. The cast is cool and I don't think anyone should look for academy material here. I liked these kids and they suit the movie.

So, all together I found Scott Pilgrim being one of the most original, exciting and fun productions I've seen in my life. As a huge fan of things like fighting games, comics, or martial arts anime I felt satisfied to a point of screaming 'awesome' out loud after 30 minutes into the movie. Though people who never played Street Fighter or kept crossing fingers for Goku and friends yelling 'kamehameha' as evil bosses get pulverized by energy beams might not really get what Scott Pilgrim is about, it's very hard to deny the originality featured and the creative and professional qualities of the way it's executed.

Fantastic! 8/10

I guess I am not the age demographic that this film is based at but I liked it. My daughter loves it, she even made me by her the DVD.

Scott Pilgrim is a magical realism/fantasy teen comedy with pop art video game visuals. Deep in its heart its just a hip, flashy teen romantic comedy.

Edgar Wright better known as the director of the Cornetto Trilogy adapts this comic book series like it was an edgy fast paced pseudo Japanese video game.

Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) plays bass in his garage rock band Sex Bob-omb who meets his dream girl Ramona Flowers (Elizabeth Mary Winstead) who is new in town. However he is soon pursued by Ramona's seven evil exes who all challenge Scott Pilgrim to a duel and Scott needs to keep them in check with his zaps and zingers Streetfighter style.

Cera has the right balance of geeky, slacker dude, Canadian hipster charm as Scott Pilgrim who is very likable even though he quickly ditched High School student Knives for Ramona.

The Evil Exes are a colourful bunch with some star names amongst them. Chris Evans is a skateboarding movie star whose entrance is accompanied with the Universal Pictures theme tune. Jason Schwartzman is a megalomaniac record producer. Brandon Routh is a pretentious vegan rock star with the ability to fly just like Superman.

There is a lot of scene stealing in this film like Kieran Culkin as Scott's sneaky gay roommate, Anna Kendrick as Scott's sister and particularly Ellen Wong as Knives the slightly too young ditched girlfriend who is still loyal to Scott.

I actually found this to be a fast moving, quirky, rocking, enjoyable comedy drama.

"Scott Pilgrim" is one of the most creative, fresh and original films I have seen in ages, and because of that I was in absolute awe of the film. However, despite being a terrific film, I also understand that this is NOT a film that will appeal to everyone--in fact, it's probably one of the more polarizing films I have ever seen--you'll probably either love it or hate it. While I am NOT in the target demographic group (aged 15-30 and predisposed to loving graphic novels AND video games), I did enjoy it--and am probably the rare 40-something person who loved the film. What was different about me is that I am a geek (a definite plus), enjoy video games and have a rabid comic book fan for a daughter--so I understood many of the pop culture references throughout the film. But, if you are NOT a geek, hate video games and see graphic novels more as comic books, then the movie might be a chore to watch. Plus you might just feel ooky hanging out with geeks. Don't worry, they are almost all very nice people!

So what, other than originality, did I love about this film? Well, just about everything--and I seriously considered giving the film a 10--I liked it that much. Perhaps the best thing for me was casting of Michael Cera in the lead. Unlike the traditional super-hero, he is by far the geekiest and most likable main character I have seen. Seeing such a wimpy and unassuming guy become, out of no where, like a character from Mortal Combat was a wonderful juxtaposition--you just couldn't help but smile. And, despite his nerdy looks, he was winning as Scott Pilgram...and actually played the music his on-screen band played--now that's talent. Additionally, I loved the film's gentle sense of humor---I laughed harder at this film than any film I've seen in the theater in some time. I could try to describe these moments--you just need to see them for yourself. Odd references to games like DOA, Mortal Combat, Marvel Vs. Capcom and Zelda II were great--I caught on to those due to my own geeky background. And, my familiarity with anime/manga also made me laugh--as the hair, love for girls in school uniforms and style were often straight out of Japanese comics. And, I loved how the film made me love video games and was simply much, much more fun that the original "Tron" (which I always felt was too dry--perhaps the new version will correct this).

Clever, wonderful and strange, this film is the geek's dream come true...and not a film to be missed. However, if you aren't a geek or are perhaps too old to get the pop references, I say take along an interpreter--many comic book nerds and couch potatoes would be glad to go with you and help explain things...provided you pay for the tickets.

Among the nearly 9000 reviews I have now done on IMDb, this ranks in the hallowed ranks of a very small group of movies that transcended the pack due to its utter weirdness. It's surreal and weird--and I think this makes it very special. For other films that fall into this category, try "The Happiness of the Katikuris", "Delicatessen", "Yes Nurse, No Nurse", "Tatie Danielle" and "Tampopo"--all truly unique, surreal and fabulous films.

I came to this films with no preconceptions of it as a movie and I have to say I am glad. I guess I was expecting another Michael Cera movie about some dopey kid in love. And thats what it is ... but done in a unusually great way. For anyone under 25 brought up on gaming (I am 30 and not) this will be just brilliant. The style of the movie with its "end of level baddies", game-play set-up and visuals are a welcome and refreshing twist on what could have been a hum-drum movie. The music rocked, the comedy was fast, slick and laugh out loud ... I'd definitely recommend this to my friends looking for something that little bit special.