Taking on the World

I'm lagging quite a bit behind the crowd on this one, but I finally got around to seeing Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. As the weeks rolled by, there was an impossible hype building up on this movie from some (though not all) of the people I knew who had seen it. In short, it was clear that this movie had struck a chord with a lot of people.

It's easy to see why. This movie taps into the childhood of people my age. It's a real "video game movie," even though it isn't actually based on one particular video game like some failed efforts of recent years. The film is loaded with references to classics like The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros, plus more modern games like Rock Band. And of course, fighting games like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. But the movie almost never bothers to actually name check any of these things -- you just have to know them. So there's definitely a level of being "inside the tent" if you "get" this movie, and I think that explains the intense positive reaction from some people.

Not that I disliked it. Actually, I had a goofy smile plastered on my face for most of the film. This despite the fact that it hews very closely to its manga roots and comes across very much like a comic -- rapid fire editing, split screen cameras, varying sizes of letterbox framing, and on-screen text for sound effects. It all felt vital to the story, and since it was all played for comedy, I didn't find it jarring.

But I did sort of feel like the gimmicks wore out a bit before the movie reached its conclusion. Scott Pilgrim has to fight seven "evil exes" of his new girlfriend in the course of the film, but I was honestly feeling by the end of it that maybe five or so would have been enough. The movie does a pretty good job of making each confrontation feel different, but it also peaks a bit early with the hilarious fight against super-Vegan-powered Ex #3.

The cast is pretty good. Michael Cera shows another dimension in his acting -- not in the actual performance (as his character is once again another version of George Michael Bluth from Arrested Development), but in his display of fight choreography. It's not all stunt doubling. But the real scene stealers of the film are Brandon Routh as the aforementioned Ex #3, and Kieran Culkin as the hero's lecherous gay roommate.

I'd rate the movie a B overall, basically on par with another fun comic adaptation from this year, Kick-Ass.