Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

I am not a gamer. When I was young, my parents bought me the Atari 2600, which came with 2 games. Then they realised how fucking expensive games were and I never got another one. My beloved and utterly amazing fiancé bought me a PS3 for Christmas this past year so now I’ve been able to try some new games, and frankly, I suck. My life is frustrating and stressful enough without me trying to figure out how to beat the overwhelming odds of the major boss battle I don’t have the skill to win.

The only arcade I ever visited was the one in Fort Edward Mall in Windsor, my home away from chemistry, French, math and sociology. I stuck to a couple of games, mostly a chintzy basketball one that was easy and provided me with the best bang for my quarter, because I could play one game for about 20-30 minutes before crapping out. I do not have the fondness for such things that most of my other friends possess so a lot of historical gaming references go right over my head.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World resides at the intersection between comic book heaven and 16 bit gaming geekitude. Based on a comic book and constructed like a classic arcade game, I am prepared to say this has supplanted Iron Man as my favourite movie of all time. If you haven’t seen the previews or promos for this “epic of epic epicness”, then here’s the skinny:

Scott Pilgrim is a scrawny awkward 22 year old bass player who falls in love with an aloof American chick, and must defeat her seven evil exes in battle in order to pursue a relationship. Of course, if you need a scrawny, awkward 20 something in Hollywood, you need Michael Cera. I’m sure studios have their own Cera searchlight, kind of like Gotham’s batsignal. Therein lies the rub – if you are predisposed to hate Cera’s work (he’s the same in every movie), you will likely not enjoy this either.

However, if you avoid watching it solely because of its’ star, you will be depriving yourself of a hilarious, brilliantly written action comedy. For me, this movie succeeds because the script is so smart and well developed, the action sequences are outstanding – paying homage to such diverse influences as Street Fighter, Manga style anime, classic Saturday morning cartoons and Super Mario. Visually, this is a masterpiece – CGI, lighting, perspective, editing all come together flawlessly in ways both subtle and obvious.

Performances were fantastic all round, but I will heap special praise on all of the evil exes, especially Chris Evans and Brandon Routh. Seriously people, all of the hype surrounding this film is spot on. It moves along quickly, you never have far to go between the next great laugh or action sequence. Imaginative, well executed and utterly brilliant, this is what movies are supposed to be.

I rate this 10 out of 10. See it in theatres, buy it when it comes out but please don’t download it illegally. Support great art.