May be the most surprising film you see all year

Rating: 7/10 (1 February 2011)

From Edgar Wright (Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz), a fresh director with his finger on the comedic pulse, comes Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, an original, unconventional and interesting meld of several genres you wouldn't expect to work well in conjunction with one another, but actually complement each other nicely to produce a very entertaining two hours.
Socially-awkward-but-somehow-a-woman-magnet Scott Pilgrim is the bassist for aspiring band Sex Bo-bomb, who meets the mysterious Ramona Flowers once in his dream, then again during a live show. They hit it off, but before the relationship can get serious he must defeat her seven evil ex's (not just limited to ex-boyfriends, either). Intertwined within all this is his current girlfriend Knives, who takes action into her own hands in this unlikely game of cat-and-mouse.
If you wanted to make things really simple, and tried hard enough, you could look at any single film and justify which two films that came before it are, in fact, its illegitimate parents. This much is true for Scott Pilgrim. It combines the offbeat, new age & contemporary humour of Mean Girls with the bizarre, risk-taking cinematic style seen in Natural Born Killers. Many of its similarities to the former can be attributed to what is at least a half-decent screenplay, and definitely the most ambitious script of any film currently out. Writers Bacall and Wright employ quick wit and, although many of the jokes do possess a hit-or-miss factor, much of the humour is well constructed whether it be a case of art imitating life, or some insane set piece involving superpowers and epic battles.
As for the latter, there is no doubt in my mind that this film took as much inspiration from Oliver Stone's twisted fairytale as it did from the Scott Pilgrim comic itself. The entire film is essentially a video game come to life, with a heap of fourth-wall-breaking, self-reflexive techniques that, for all their simplicity, have never been seen before on such a mainstream level. Honourable mentions must go to Scott's 'battle' with second evil ex Lucas Lee, as well as an excellent scene referencing Seinfeld, displaying the theme music, conversational tone and plot of the show briefly for no other reason than to entertain.
The film did have its negatives, and I'll start with the most pressing issue: Michael Cera. Here we have an actor who, in his few years in the industry, has become typecast like no other actor before him. Once again, he plays the nervous, wimpy teenager; the only difference being his character is actually 22. He is not necessarily terrible in Scott Pilgrim, but his performance suffers tremendously from its stale aftertaste, mainly because we've seen it all before.
Also, some people may take offence with the implied moral of this film. A friend who didn't enjoy the film for this reason (among others) actually summed it up quite well: 'cheating on your girlfriend is OK if the new one is hot enough.' Personally, I'm all about suspending disbelief while watching a movie and judging it on its on-screen efforts, rather than criticizing the way in which some people may interpret it wrongly. But, as mentioned, this can be an issue, and so had to be raised accordingly. However, if you appreciate innovation and directors who think outside the box, actually making the effort to make a film stand out as one of their own, I recommend Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.
*There's nothing I love more than a bit of feedback, good or bad. So drop me a line on jnatsis@iprimus.com.au and let me know what you thought of my review.*