Growing up, video games have taught me some of the most important universal truths in life. Life is all about leveling up, you have to overcome progressively harder opposition to reap the best rewards and that your enemies explode into a pile of coins when killed. Oh and also, killing is totally awesome, because you get coins.
Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) it seems is on this same revelatory journey in, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Indeed this movie doesn’t so much toe the line between allegory and badassery as it does push you across flailing and laughing, into the cacophonous sea of awkward teen tropes and video game clichés. Set into a soundscape of lo-fi Indy rock, Scott plucks bass rocktastic in his living room band Sex Ba-Bombs. Comprised of sardonic chick drummer, Kim Pine (Alison Pill) the “talented” singer, Stephen Stills (Mark Webber) and young Neil (Johnny Simmons) they jam out with attitude, style and plenty of youthful bewilderment.
Amidst all the rocking out and teen dramedy is a groping story centering on twenty- something Scott and the hilarious train wreck that is his life and decision making ability. He has a problem; he is dating the Asian high school girl - Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). It gets better; he doesn’t like her that much. It gets better; she likes him way more than he wants her to. When the awesomely green haired Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) turns his head, he (like most people who don’t want to introduce themselves as sex offenders) decides to handle his girl juggling in the most immorally entertaining way possible. There is another catch of course; in order to be with Ramona, he has to battle her seven evil Exes, queue the insanity.
But it is in this insanity and visual style that Scott Pilgrim vs. the world shines. Filmed like a live action video game on acid and crack simultaneously, the visual and audio style reflects and embodies some of the more glorious and whimsical aspects of all gaming genres. 8-bit graphics and old school Nintendo sounds not only accent, but happen forth, popping up from life accomplishments and revealing information to the audience as if they were a laminated third party. The video game references don’t stop there though, as gamers from all age groups should be able to find something familiar here to get all nostalgic about. Add to this, an orgy of cut and paste sequences, vibrant and cartoonish martial arts, a disembodied fight narrator, and a philandering gay roommate (Kieran Culkin) and you have a movie that is equal parts FTW as it is WTF?!
Overall, the story takes a back seat to the awesomely visceral gaming madness. But with a smart script and fantastic tongue in cheek commitment on the part of the actors, my only real complaint is that I really would have liked to have played this movie.
(Review by Quinn Cruz-Hawkins)
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