Edgar Wright knocks it out of the park...

Rating: 9/10 (13 August 2011)

Let me start this review by saying that I did not see this film at the cinema, it didn't draw me in, and I was foolishly unaware that it was directed by Edgar Wright at the time of cinema release.
I'm a huge fan of Spaced (TV show directed by Wright) but I wasn't an enormous fan of Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz. I did think they were exceptionally made films, but for me they lacked something, a heart a sense of substance. The comedy was there, but it still felt like as a feature film director Edgar Wright was cutting his teeth, still working with Simon Pegg et al (no complaints, but you would always compare the work with Spaced and that would be hard to top). I always felt like Edgar Wright would do more once he left his Spaced roots behind.
Then came Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, like I say I didn't know it was a Wright film, and I wasn't drawn in by the marketing of it and didn't see it until it arrived in my living room on a movie channel. But I have never been more surprised, amused, filled with joy and just ****ing entertained by a movie. It was one of those moments, like seeing Fight Club for the first time. You didn't know it was going to be that good. And after that it becomes one of the films you always consider to be exceptionally good and a milestone in cinema.
I believe this film will be entertaining and a joy to any audience over 12 but perhaps Scott Pilgrim will appeal in a particular way to anyone who grew up with Nintendo games. Being in my late 20s (and a boy, although girls play Nintendo too I'm told :), I'm the perfect audience for this film. The Zelda, Mario bros, Street Fighter etc references are wonderfully placed and never feel like they're getting in the way of the plot or the characters.
What this film does in a way in which I've never seen a film do before is seamlessly blend the real world, computer games and young romance, and the conflict, struggles and bliss that it brings into a cohesive and endlessly entertaining couple of hours. It's just the most brilliant fun, and I am extremely cynical about modern films.
I don't use my words lightly when I say that the last film that impressed me this much and reminded me of how incredible films can be, was Fight Club. Though in tone, subject matter and style they are different beasts altogether, they really both share the same frenetic pace and sense of limitless imagination. Edgar Wright has come into his own with this film, pitching special effects, stylistic combat, humour and pace to near perfection. Usually you would sacrifice humour or depth or a sense of human emotion through the use of such fantastic and supernatural elements, but Edgar Wright pulls it off. Exceptionally cast, with Kieran Culkin stealing every scene he appears in... The music couldn't be better (Beck wrote the songs that Scott Pilgrims band plays throughout the film). The dialogue is relentlessly funny, with too many one liners to quote here. It's hard to find fault with this film, although I'm trying to. If I had read the comic books the film is based on (I haven't) I'd probably have some fan boy gripe about a missing character or a misrepresented event, but I have not.
All I can say is, if you haven't seen this film, see it as soon as possible. It's one of the best films of the past ten years and I can't wait to see what Edgar does next. I never give ten out of ten because perfection in anything is impossible, but please see this 9/10 as my version of a 10 for Scott Pilgrim vs The World. It's quite simply awesome.