Pure fun and entertainment!

Rating: 9/10 (19 February 2011)

¨Every Pilgrim reaches the end of its journeysome sooner than others.¨ I can guarantee you one thing about Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: It is like no other film you have seen in 2010. You might love it or hate it, but it definitely won't be for its lack of originality. What some viewers may find off-putting are the eye-candy arcade style visuals, which I really enjoyed and found original. I completely loved this movie and was rooting for Scott Pilgrim all the way. This film is as close as anyone will get at adapting a graphic novel. Some scenes felt as if I were passing the pages of the comic book itself since it was full of texts throughout the action sequences (Zombieland tried this successfully last year as well). British director, Edgar Wright (of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz fame), successfully adapted the screenplay along with Michael Bacall, in order to bring Brian Lee O'Malley's graphic novel to the big screen. The visuals, the action sequences, and the soundtrack are all highly entertaining, but what I really enjoyed the most in this film were the characters. The film moves at a really fast pace and it is surprising how much stuff they get into this movie in only two hours. It brought me so many different sensations at the same time: I felt like I was playing an arcade game, watching a live concert, and reading a graphic novel all at once. There are so many talented actors as well, but I will get into that in the next paragraph. All I can say is that director Edgar Wright keeps on demonstrating that he can make highly entertaining and fun films one after another, and isn't afraid of taking risks. He always goes all in and pushes the boundaries of filmmaking.
For those of you who aren't familiar with the graphic novel I will introduce you briefly to the plot and characters. Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a twenty-two year old who is in between jobs at the moment, living with his gay roommate, Wallace Wells (Kieran Culkin), and currently dating a seventeen year old named Knives (Ellen Wong). She is slowly becoming obsessed with him, but he seems to be enjoying her company as they hang out mostly in the arcades. Scott is also the bass player for a small band called Sex Bob-Omb along with Kim (Alison Pill), Stephen (Mark Webber), and Young Neil (Johnny Simmons). Scott is still trying to get over the girl that broke his heart, Envy Adams (Brie Larson), who has now become a famous pop star. It has been a year since he was dumped, but now things begin to be looking all right for Scott and his relationship with Knives. That is until Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) shows up and Scott falls head over heels for her. Ramona is the girl of his dreams and it is love at first sight for Scott Pilgrim. She doesn't seem to be interested in him at first, but Scott manages to get a date with her and she gives him a chance. The only problem is that Ramona comes with some heavy baggage and in order to date her he will have to defeat her seven evil ex lovers: Matthew (Satya Bhabha), Lucas (Chris Evans), Roxy (Mae Whitman), Todd (Brandon Routh), the Katayanagi twins (Shota Saito and Keita Saitou), and Gideon (Jason Schwartzman). To make matters worse he also has to face Knives and let her know that he is in love with someone else.
The cast is absolutely amazing. Michael Cera is great in the lead role and he plays his usual self although this time around he can fight really well. He has to face two ex superheroes: Superman (Brandon Routh) and the Human Torch (Chris Evans), who actually have pretty funny and entertaining scenes. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is gorgeous in this movie and it's also love at first sight with her. Jason Schwartzman is always entertaining too watch as well. However the person who really steals every scene he's in actually is Kieran Culkin who gives a terrific and funny performance as Wallace. I really fell in love with these characters and with the movie as well. The dialogue is very witty and funny, the visuals are stunning and really fast paced, the soundtrack is incredible, and I really loved the video game effects introduced in the movie. The story also served as a metaphor for love. Just like Scott we too have to face the evil exes of the person we love if we want to win their heart. If we can't manage to make them forget about their past they will never want to move on with you. I thought it was an interesting metaphor anyways. It's not a film you can take seriously, but it is one of the reasons why we love to go to the movies: Its pure fun and entertaining.
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