Scott Pilgrim vs The World stars Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim, a 22 year old Toronto native who deals with love and relationships in a world dominated by video game references, rock and roll, and over the top physical combat.
Go see this movie. If you have any interest at all in awesome fight scenes, young adult relationship drama, or just comedy in general, you will enjoy yourself. Scott Pilgrim is a young, unemployed bass player who starts the film dating a 17 year old, much to the disdain of his friends. He is in a band, Sex Bob Omb, and spends his days playing at the arcade, attending band practice, and sharing a bed with his gay roommate Wallace.
But his routine changes when Ramona Flowers, a brightly haired, mysterious girl enters his life. He immediately loss interest in his school aged girlfriend, Knives, and pursues a relationship with Ramona via mild stalking and non-coincidental run ins. Their new relationship is awesome except for one thing - Ramona has seven evil exes, all of whom Scott must defeat in mortal combat.
The film is based on a series of graphic novels (long comic books) and it definitely stays true to its roots. Speech bubbles, text overlays, and flashing sound effects abound and lend the movie a visual style like nothing I've ever seen. The movie is just great to look at, no matter what's going on. The comic style enhances the humor and will definitely make the movie stick in your mind.
The story is heavy on the fighting, as the primary conflict is between Scott and the League of Evil Exes. And the fighting is great. Scott is pretty much a loser, but he is also the best fighter in Toronto. Each battle is different and creative, with the loser exploding into a flurry of coins as a point total floats in the air overhead. Much of the comic story had to be condensed for time purposes, so there isn't as much back story for each ex, but it's not missed. You get the point, they're evil and must be defeated.
The story is solid as well. There are evil characters, but Scott isn't necessarily a hero. He's likable, but not admirable. All the characters display quite realistic human weakness, despite their unrealism of their surroundings and circumstances. Michael Cera does a great job of playing up his character and does just enough to differentiate this from his usual roles. The evil exes are all over the top as expected. But the real comedy gold comes in the form of Wallace, Scott's roommate, whose one liners and callous quips often had the audience laughing aloud.
The film is rife with video game references, pop culture grace notes, and general quirkiness. It is definitely designed to appeal to the Millenial Generation, and it does its job well. It has joined the recent trend of comic book films that surpass their source material (see Wanted, Kick-Ass). I can't reccommend the film strongly enough. It is definitely the best film I have seen in 2010.
