A Total Geekgasm

Rating: 8/10 (17 February 2011)

From the moment the movie opens with an 8-bit rendition of the Universal Pictures logo, you know what you're in for. This film is a major geekgasm, with constant references to classic video games scattered throughout, and anyone who grew up with the classics on NES, SNES, SEGA, etc. are going to love it. For those somehow unaware, the movie is based on the seven-issue series of graphic novels written by Bryan Lee O'Malley and it's directed by the awesome Edgar Wright (SHAUN OF THE DEAD & HOT FUZZ). Scott Pilgrim is the bass player for a struggling underground band and, as the film opens, is dating a high school girl. That is, until he meets the literal girl of his dreams: Ramona Flowers. Scott immediately pursues Ramona but, if he is to date her, he must defeat her seven evil exes. As Scott and his band, Sex Bob-omb, search for their big break and a record contract with the mysterious Gideon "G-Man" Graves, Scott begins a series of fights to the death with Ramona's exes while fending off the advances of his jilted ex-high school girlfriend Knives Chau.
The film is an absolute blast and one of the most fun films to come out in the summer of 2010. It might suffer a bit from those who aren't as in to the game references and doses of hipster humor. I thought it was a great movie, but it could've been better if broken into a series rather than crammed into one two-hour block. There is a lot of material for Wright to cover here and, as a result, the entire film feels rushed. There's a lot of characters to introduce and a lot of fights to get through and, since it was all done in one film, it's forced to skimp out on interesting backstory and character development. Before each fight, Ramona gives us a quick blurb of history explaining her failed relationship with each ex. It gets the job done but I can only imagine how much more we could've been given if Wright were given the opportunity to spread the seven-issues worth of material over three movies instead of one. The movie zips along from one fight to the next, oftentimes with little time to breath or watch the Scott/Ramona relationship develop.
You can tell everyone had a blast on this film and Wright has used some of the best young talent. Michael Cera doesn't really stretch himself as the titular Scott Pilgrim, but his meek personality is perfect for the character; Mary Elizabeth Winstead is beautiful as Ramona and she makes the perfect dream woman. My favorite performances weren't the key cast and instead came from some of the supporting players. Kieran Culkin was freakin' hilarious as Scott's gay roommate Wallace Wells and responsible for some of the best line deliveries. The exes, being the centerpiece of the film, were some inspired choices including Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, and Jason Schwartzman. There's even a great cameo from Thomas Jane and Clifton Collins Jr that I'm not going to spoil here, but it's the funniest part of the entire movie. It's really a shame this movie didn't perform well at the box office, but I guess it's aimed at a niche audience (comic and gamer geeks). In a sense, it's actually good Wright crammed all the material into one movie seeing as how the weak performance might not have warranted further movies to complete the saga.