I think the best thing about Scott Pilgrim was that I got it. The video game and comic-book references, the geek-boy falls in love with hipster-girl romance, the jaw-dropping visual effects; that it takes place in Toronto is like the cherry-on-top. Scott Pilgrim’s world is my own, partially anyway (I was never in a band, and I don’t have a gay roommate). He wears those t-shirts you see in the windows of Criminal Records and Sonic Boom (another location this film is shot in), he falls in love at the drop of a hat. It reminded me of (500) Days of Summer. The character was basically a version of myself that I loathed to accept. What Scott Pilgrim does better than (500) Days, however, is have more fun with its characters and reinvent the Johnny Sensitive movie in new and interesting ways.
The story will be familiar to anyone who’s read the comic or watched Adventureland, Art School Confidential, Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind, and any movie featuring Michael Cera. Geeky, sensitive, nice boy Scott Pilgrim (Cera) meets and falls in love hard with quirky, impossibly gorgeous Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Pilgrim makes it his mission to be with her, despite her aloof, don’t-give-a-shit attitude. Pretty soon they’re “dating,” but there’s little time for those pesky details like getting to know each other, because on their second date, Pilgrim is ambushed by the first of Ramona’s “Evil Exes,” whom Pilgrim must defeat if they’re to be together.
The structure of the movie is sort of like a video game, with Pilgrim fighting one evil ex after the other until he reaches “the final boss,” but it’s more like a musical, with each fight substituting for song and dance routines. I rather enjoyed the quick pace of the movie, and how it doesn’t linger on some boring, routine conversation between the two romantic leads. We get that he’s in love with her and she (sort of) likes him too because we’ve seen these characters time and time again. We don’t need anymore conversations about life and love; just get to it already.
The most outstanding thing about Scott Pilgrim is the visuals. The fight scenes are choreographed like video games; only a die-hard gamer could tell you which specific game is being referenced at any given fight scene. But my particular favourite is the Double Dragon II reference near the end which I dare not spoil. Let’s just say it involves Pilgrim fighting “his greatest enemy.” I’ll leave it at that.
But back to the visuals – the split-screen shots of Pilgrim and the evil exes closing in on each other; the CGI monster Pilgrim creates with his bass guitar; even small things like Ramona’s roller-skates parting through snow are beautiful. This is the second time this year I’ve seen a movie where the special effects actually help to tell the story rather than just add a meaningless distraction (Inception still ranks as number 1).
There are a lot of in-jokes, so if you’re over 40, beware. My particular favourites include the casting of two superheroes as Ramona’s exes respectively, Brandon Routh (Superman) and Chris Evans (Human Torch). Their scenes are particularly well-done, especially Routh as Ramona’s vegan ex-boyfriend with psychic abilities. Cera, too, shines in a role he seems forever destined to play. Winstead is less cheery and droller than other Manic Pixie Dream Girls, a welcome change (even if her hair colour is reminiscent of Kate Winslett in Eternal Sunshine).
The standout is newcomer Ellen Wong as Pilgrim’s high school girlfriend Knives. She’s eerily convincing as a 17-year-old high school girl (she’s 26 in real life), and transforms herself from scene to scene, going from sweet and innocent shy girl with the soft voice, to obsessive ex-girlfriend, to kick-ass martial arts babe. Her youthful appearance may restrict her to high school movies for a while, but there’s no question she’s got the acting chops to do bigger things.
I don’t know if another generation will find Pilgrim as fun to watch as I did. It definitely fits into our generation’s obsession with pop culture, and a lot of the in-jokes will either make you laugh or confuse you. So to anyone who didn’t play Mortal Kombat or Super Mario Bros. as a kid, or watch Seinfeld, or etc., I suggest you do some homework before you watch this.
Yeah, I should've addressed this in my review. She is problematic, but not for that reason. She's constantly racialized, so her Chinese background is constantly brought up for no real reason other than to differentiate her, which I did have an issue with. I don't know that I'd say Pilgrim chooses Ramona over her because she's white. She's in high school, so that's largely why she's wrong for him. But yes, I would say she's a problematic character. The actress, however, is very good.
I heard from someone who watched the movie that the depiction of the Asian ex-gf was problematic. The way you describe it, it sounds as though she was kind of a starter chick and then he eventually graduated to the white Ramona Flowers, who's like the epitome of beauty.
This is actually the first positive review I've read, but it sounds like an interesting flick nonetheless. I'll probably watch it out of curiosity.