Movie Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Having never been aware of the Scott Pilgrim comic, I watched this film with no particular expectations. Sure, I was aware - from the trailers - that this was to be no ordinary teen romantic comedy of some sort. But boy, was I pleasantly surprised.

I mean, I was a little unsure whether or not I would enjoy the computer game feel of the movie, but any doubt disappeared immediately once it began. The minute that 8-bit version of the Universal Logo came up on screen, I knew I was up for something really interesting and fresh.

Personally, I thought the story was insane, but always strangely familiar. I like that it managed to interweave hilarious jokes - played up in all sorts of fashion - into an actual story that had enough character development and a plot that was both exciting and entertaining in its own way. But what I think made the premise work was the fact that I never really questioned the impossible reality that was occurring in the movie. Yes, it seemed as if I should be asking myself "Why can this guy shoot fire from his hands or even fly?", but I never did. Shockingly, this film achieved that rare balance of suspension of disbelief and reality, with, of course, the outstanding use of visual effects.

Which brings me to what I thought was the movie's best attribute, its visuals. This, to me, was probably one of the most colorful and graphically intense films I've seen this year. Seriously. I personally loved how the movie moved like a comic book - but not in the way Sin City, 300 or Watchmen did. This one had a completely different feel. Everything was packaged in monumentally fun set pieces, with nicely choreographed fight sequences and amazing visual effects to boot. This film, I have to say, was visually fantastic, and all the while attention grabbing and imaginatively grand.

Now, across the board, I thought the acting was surprisingly good. In fact, it was so good I wouldn't single out any of the actors as they were all outstanding. I was even glad that a lot of the characters looked and acted like normal kids, which made the film a lot more believable. Fine, maybe that crazy Chinese schoolgirl and the almost Gothic-indie girl were stereotypes at times, but at least, they were stereotypes I want to see. Ha!

As for Michael Cera, I personally never really liked him  - yes, in any of his movies, even Juno - but he was perfectly cast here. He still did his Michael Cera shtick as Scott Pilgrim but it was really refreshing to see him kick some major butt for a change. Haha.

One quibble I had with the film though was that it was incredibly fast paced that it was, unfortunately to its detriment. To me, the film somehow lacked an emotional connection, which was partially due to its hyper-paced action. There! But that was just me nitpicking. So, whatever. Haha.

That being said, this is a movie that's hard not to like - unless, of course, if you personally have a problem with Michael Cera. Haha. Is Scott Pilgrim a perfect film? No, it most certainly has it's flaws. It is, however, possibly one of the most inventive and cleverly written, eye-popping and visually appealing action comedies since Kick-Ass. Yes, I think inevitably, and very unfortunately, this will be compared to that film - and that almost makes me sad - but I'm glad that I got to see both in the same year.

RATING: 8/10