January 22, 2011: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
I haven’t read the series of graphic novels upon which Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is based, but I had to see this film in order to understand the wildly mixed opinions about it. I found it to be an entertaining romp, but clearly not aimed at me and my life experience.
There are friends of mine who I know loved this movie, and I know exactly why. It speaks to their love of today’s music and today’s complicated relationships and today’s slacker king ethos, and it wraps that all up in a fantastical (yes, that is a word) adventure which is just “comic book” enough to be hip, but not so “comic book” as to be overly geeky. It’s intelligent videogame-generation humour channeled through an idiot, more or less, which makes for a film viewing experience which speaks to youth and unconventional thinking more than most movies manage to do, even the ones ostensibly aimed at such an audience. From the bright comic look with visual effects shots such as accent lines, to the stylized but at their roots genuine interactions among the young folks trying to figure out the world, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World almost creates a genre of its own.
This film is proudly filmed and also set in Toronto, a point which was far from lost on the local critics and audiences. Toronto is so commonly used as a stand-in for major American cities, it’s almost a shock to see a streetcar or familiar venue or garbage bin or even the CN Tower prominently featured and not just sloppily left in the background. Cinematographer Bill Pope brings experience (Spider-Man and Matrix films) and a necessary beauty to the fast-cutting visual style of the film. Michael Cera, who plays the title character, is doing his usual schtick and as a result is probably not quite true to the character in the book, though he’s passable as far as I can tell. I have to assume the director chose him knowing his limited efforts at improving his acting range, and must have judged his usual character to be close enough to what was desired. For a movie with a storyline about fighting a girl’s seven evil exes, Cera brings enough wonderment and genuine joy to his battle victories that I think the right effect has been achieved. I didn’t love Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, but I can certainly respect it.
It’s definitely a unique viewing experience.
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