A Flop To Remember

Rating: 8/10 (28 August 2010)

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World flopped at the theaters and some people don't know why. It took me a while, but I managed to see this movie late in its lifespan at the theaters. I, for one, didn't really want to see this movie but the word of mouth guided me there.
The big question on my mind was: How can a film flop at the box office with such glowing reviews? I can tell you that it's not Michael Cera, who did a wonderful job in this movie, or the story itself which revolves around Scott Pilgrim fighting the league of evil exes to win the heart of Ramona Flowers. The cast did an extraordinary job with this film and the director put a lot of his heart and soul into this film, even using old school video game references to accompany the film. That I liked.
The reason why this film flopped was because it's not for everybody. My parents would not like this movie. My siblings would not like this movie. It only reaches out to a specific audience. It caters more to the hard rock groups (which I'm not a part of), new and old video game junkies like myself, and the comic book crowd. The whole film is like comic books, movies and video games all thrown into a blender and somehow brought to the general public hoping it will work. It succeeds on a certain level but to fully enjoy this movie, you have to ask yourself: "How far am I willing to suspend disbelief?"
And that's where Scott Pilgrim falters. It has to be accepted by a wide general audience for it to succeed. It's one of those movies you might turn to on the TV and you might be like, "This looks stupid!" And then change the channel. That could be Scott Pilgrim vs. The World to the public.
But if you're willing to suspend disbelief, then you are for one heck of a ride. The core of the film is Scott defeating the exes and a lot of imagination went into the fight scenes. To me, the best part is watching the actors, because they look like they are having fun. The fight scenes, as over the top as they are, are fun to look at. I did have to ask myself, "How did Scott Pilgrim learn how to fight like that?" There was no indication of him knowing how to fight. It just happens. Maybe I was supposed to turn my brain off at that point.
All and all, this isn't my favorite movie of the year or anything but I did enjoy it and that's what I was asking for. One last question I asked myself after leaving the theater, "Why was it called Scott Pilgrim vs. The World?" He never left Canada! I'll shut my brain off on that one too.