Scott Pilgrim Vs the World Directed by Edgar Wright.
Edgar Wright, godly British director of classic films Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead returns with another epic film of epic epic-ness.
First up this is a hot contender for my favourite movie of the year. They be fighting words indeed.
Wright decides that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost deserves a break, and as such casts indie it-kid Michael Cera in the role of Scott Pilgrim, band member and heart-breaker.
View the trailer here to get the basic idea:
You watched it? Great! The plot centres around Scott's pursuit of Ramona Flowers, the girl of his dreams. But as their relationship starts to take off he discovers that he is to fight her 7 evil exes, all in mind-blowing video game style battles.
The film essentially is littered with video game references and crazy edits and effects that Wright is somewhat known for. An unusual visual style permeates the film that is incredibly appealing to me and really hails to the potential digital cinema has for making some visually engaging pieces. Along for the ride is Scott's 17 year old 'sort of' girlfriend Knives Chau, who he has to somewhat dodge in his pursuit of Ramona, his band members who both hate him and love him at the same time, and his housemate Wallace, via an excellent job by Keiran Culkin.
This is very much a Gen X/Gen Y film though I'm sure others will appreciate it as well [it helps having a healthy appreciation for video games in general] From the start we are littered with video game references [an excellent 8-bit version of the Universal logo being the first thing we see] and the film style very much shoots by at a relatively fast pace [we Gen Yers being somewhat known for our limited attention sp...]
Casting was great and in particular Keiran Culkin and Ellen Wong [Knives] pull in great supporting roles. Being a big fan of Michael Cera from his Arrested Development days, I got exactly what I expected: more of the same, but in this film in particular his awkwardness works in spades. Combined with plenty of action, Cera forms somewhat of an Anti-action hero: he can kick ass, but boy does he make it look painfully awkward. I'm fairly sure this is also the first film I've seen where being Vegan is legitimately used as a super power.
This film succeeds in almost every area: The humour is right up my alley, the visuals are so darn pretty to look at and the music is alot of fun too. Did I mention the visuals? They are the standout piece here: watch it just to have your brain explode from all the bright colours. The only real weakness of the film is the relationship between Ramona and Scott in which they seem to have not too much chemistry. Whether that was an actor problem or a scripting problem, I can't tell, but, much like Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl in Knocked Up, I struggled at times to believe in their relationship too much. Luckily Wright's fast paced editing style generally pushes the story forward before you can dwell on that point for too long.
Great cameos from Chris Evan and Jason Schwartzmen as two of the seven exes in particular, and did I mention the visuals? For those who aren't a fan of Cera's or that style of humour, it may be a bit of a bore, but to everyone else it should be a fun ride.
A must-see that doesn't seem to be getting anywhere near as much interest as it deserves. Destined to be a cult classic, go see it while you get a chance and vote YES for more of these type films by seeing it at cinemas.
I give it a strong 4.9/5 and a big