Going into this movie, I admittedly had conflicting expectations. The professional adult in me knows how disastrous these types of movie adaptations can be and expected the worst. The former (and, apparently current - according to my friends) comic book/video game nerd in me was eagerly anticipating a movie, broadly entertaining enough to redeem the likes of "Max Payne", "Ghost Rider", and (shudder) "Double Dragon", and prove to the world that indeed, it is hip to be square. My inner cb/vg nerd was vindicated through Edgar Wright's fast-paced, funny, and innovative movie, "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World". Not the least bit familiar with the Bryan Lee O'Neil graphic novel of the same name (I still don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing), this movie has definitely sparked my interest.
Michael Cera pulls off Scott Pilgrim as a passive-aggressive, reluctant ladies man. Scott Pilgrim, the wimpy, slacker, lead bassist in a unknown garage band, has found love in his cold, snowy hometown of Toronto, Canada. Unfortunately, the heart of this mysteriously strange new girlfriend, Ramona Flowers (played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead) comes at steep price - battles, to the death, with all of her seven evil exes. On top of all that, he has to deal with other 22 year old normal life issues like gossipy frenemys, stage fright, coordinating apartment time with his socially-busy gay roommate (hilariously played by Kieran Culkin - who, incidentally, looks like a "Surrogate" version of Matt LeBlanc), getting over the heartbreak from his famous old girlfriend, and how to dump his hyper, but cute new girlfriend (Ellen Wong) for his "new, new" girlfriend (Winstead).
The visuals are awesome, the characters are witty and likeable, the soundtrack is amazing, and all of the nostalgic references to 80's-90's video games and cartoons (The band is named the "Sex Bob-ombs" and their first song is called "Launchpad McQuack") made the inner cb/vg nerd in me scream with dorky delight. The lines between reality and fantasy are blurred in this movie, so not everything is going to make sense (kind of like a video game), but if you don't spend your time analyzing every inconsistency and go with the flow, you will undoubtedly enjoy the ride.
This move rates # 3 in my list of best movies of the year, so far (right after "Inception" and "Toy Story 3". It definitely made up for a fairly bland summer of movies. In the main event of "Scott Pilgrim vs The World", Scott Pilgrim saves the summer, and the winner is - everyone.
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