Pacman meets Tarrantino meets MTV meets Batman, the 60s TV Show

Rating: 4/10 (27 March 2011)

For those who have been trying to figure out which media influenced the scenarists of 'Scott Pilgrim', how about MTV, old 80s video games, comic books and Quentin Tarrantino? There's one other that may only occur to the older population watching this film: Batman, the 60s TV show. Remember all the zany titles which would appear whenever something dramatic happened (titles such as "Sock!", "Pow!", "Bong!")? A similar technique is employed here with Scott Pilgrim but the titles are often inserted for a more farcical comic book effect (for example, when a phone rings, the title "ring" zips across the screen). One or two word titles are also utilized to describe each character (so if the narrator mentions someone is 'clueless', it's also mentioned again as a title description). 'Pilgrim' wins points for its original visual style, featuring nifty camera work and spectacular special effects which often makes one feel as if one is inside of a crazy video game.
Unfortunately, Pilgrim's story is as bland as the title character. Michael Cera (playing another geeky role) is awful as a 22 year old garage band musician who first dates a perky high school student ("Knives Chau") but then dumps her for the more mysterious Ramona Flowers (winningly played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Cera's Pilgrim can do nothing more than act like a love sick puppy dog opposite the much more aggressive Flowers from beginning to end.
In real life, the enigmatic Flowers would never go for the wimpy Pilgrim who always seems to be kow-towing to her during their many platonic interactions. Somehow, Flowers decides to give Pilgrim a second chance after he defeats her 7th ex-boyfriend Gideon (Pilgrim's ex-bands' new sponsor) in a long-winded fight scene (Flowers is not really 'attracted' to boyfriend #7; actually, he's planted a micro-chip in her brain causing her to fall for him!).
That's basically the crux of the Pilgrim plot—our 'hero' must go toe to toe with all of Flowers' evil exes before he can win back the object of his infatuation. The seven confrontations (which include a woman, one of Ramona's bi-flings) are nothing more than a device to stage a series of silly fight scenes reminiscent of Tarrantino's stylized sword fights in "Kill Bill". None of it makes any sense, especially when perky and cute Knives attacks Ramona out of jealousy over her relationship with Pilgrim. Should I also mention that Pilgrim is stabbed to death, goes to limbo but discovers he has an "extra life" that enables him to return to earth so he can do battle with Gideon all over again.
None of the supporting players exhibit any charm. Pilgrim's gay roommate, for example, puts Pilgrim down when he advises Knives not to get involved with him during their first meet up. And then there's Pilgrim's drummer and ex-girlfriend Kim Pine; why exactly does she have a dour expression on her face throughout the film? There's also little humor in the film—one attempt (if you can call it that) occurs with Ramona's third ex, Todd; he's stymied when he's stripped of his 'vegan psychic' powers by the 'vegan police' who have discovered that he's been putting half and half (non-vegan milk substitute) in his coffee.
In the end, one can only conclude that 'Pilgrim' is a pointless endeavor. Should we regard 'Pilgrim' as an honorable character after he engages in these violent confrontations with a group of one-dimensional, comic book villains? Even worse is how emasculated Pilgrim comes off as he is led around on a leash by a much more hip Ramona. This is a film strictly for teenagers. Its failure to appeal to an older, more sophisticated crowd spelled doom at the box office in the American market.