The Brag

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Released August 12, 2010

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is dizzying, so packed with ideas, gags, pop-culture references, jump cuts, visual effects, split-screens and kinetic action that the experience of watching it is like clinging to the roof of a 200mph train. Whether or not you can hold on for the ride will depend on your age (non-geeks over 30 need not apply), video game savvy (do you know your Pac-man from your Legend of Zelda?) and attention span (the shorter the better).

When it’s not zipping by on director Edgar Wright’s colourful visual style or witty script, Scott Pilgrim rides the performances of its rich comic cast, among them Anna Kendrick as Scott’s snappy sister and Kieran Culkin as his amusing gay roommate. There was some doubt, among die-hard fans of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s comics, about casting Michael Cera – but Scott Pilgrim is his most distinctive character yet. He still pines over women (Mary Elizabeth Winstead as the rainbow-haired Ramona Flowers) and is officially “in-between jobs,” but he has pep and is convincing as the bass guitarist of three-piece garage band Sex Bob-omb. To win Ramona’s heart Scott must defeat her seven evil exes, which include Chris Evans as a too-cool-for-school Hollywood actor, a glowey-eyed vegan played by Brandon Routh, and ultimately Jason Schwartzman’s Gideon Gordon Graves, whom he fights with two flaming lightsabers. Each fight sequence draws inspiration from a different game (Mortal Kombat, Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero) and each sizzles like a sugar rush.

Unfortunately, Wright’s pace is so incessant that by the second half you’re pummelled by the constantly-hilarious dialogue and eye-popping graphics; by this point, character development has become secondary to the action. No matter; Wright has already staked his claim as a master of ironic mash-ups with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, and with Scott Pilgrim he heightens these postmodern stylings to frenzied levels. It’s not going to work for everyone, but it’s exhilarating filmmaking and for its target audience, an almost assured future classic.

4.5/5

Joshua Blackman