I walked out of Scott Pilgrim thinking, “I wonder what someone just wandering in cold with no knowledge of the graphic novels would make of this movie?” From a box office standpoint, I was wondering who exactly was going to go see this and as of week 2….pretty much nobody. Director Edgar Wright’s first two movies, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, were not box office hits either and developed a strong following on DVD, but I doubt they cost a fraction of what Scott Pilgrim did. To recap, Scott Pilgrim is the story of a bass playing slacker who falls in love with a girl he meets at a party, but must defeat in battle her seven evil exes before they can be together. That’s really about a succinctly as you can sum up a story that combines music, manga, comics, rapid-fire witticisms, and aracde-style video game boss fights in a way that made the six Scott Pilgrim graphic novels unlike anything on the stands. The movie captures that sprit perfectly. I have some issues with it, but if you liked the graphic novels, you’ll love the movie.
Scott Pilgrim is it’s own movie, it is telling its story the way it wants to, and if you don’t have the geek cred to follow along, you will probably get lost in the dust. My pockets sag with geek cred, but I got a little exhausted by the movie. Not in a wholly bad way, but if you’ve seen Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz, you’ll know that Edgar Wright-he shoots a frenetic movie. Cuts every three or four seconds, scene changes slam back and forth, quick lines, quick transitions, and when this meets source material that was frenetic to begin with…you could develop ADD from watching the film. That might be a criticism or not…I’m not sure. My mind is still pinballing around act 3.
What’s good? It’s funny. Scott Pilgrim brings the funny. The battles with the evil exes are just fantastic. They got amazing actors to commit to come in to do a few days of shooting for the fights and among the evil exes you will see Chris Evans (Capt. America) and Brandon Routh (Superman) and a brief cameo by Tom Jane (Punisher). Scott runs a superhero gauntlet here. Chris Evans in particular was hysterical and his boss fight was my favorite. Evans was so good I would say he stole the movie, but Kieran Culkin beat him to it playing Scott’s roommate Wallace. Everytime he was on sceen he just dropped gold. Wallace’s involvement in the story fades as it goes onwards and you miss him.
What’s not so good? I found the main two characters unsympathetic in the graphic novels and that translates over to the movie. Maybe that’s just me, but I don’t particularly like Scott or Ramona so I don’t care what happens to them. I think Michael Cera is great, and I have loved him since Arrested Development, but this time he was miscast. I spent the whole movie just being taken out of it by thinking, “Hey, that’s Michael Cera!” instead of buying him as the character.
If I sound torn, it’s because I am. Technically, it’s outstanding. It’s well-made, well-directed, the cast is fantastic, and it’s completely in tune with its source material. On the other hand, I never felt invested with the main characters and-again-FRENETIC. It certainly deserves attention and to do better at the box office than some of the movies that are beating it, so give it a try and tell me what you think.
8.5/10
Killing Time 