Movie Review: 'Scott Pilgrim vs. The World' defines pop culture as plot

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (PG-13) Dir: Edgar Wright

This review is from a screening shown during San Diego Comic-Con at Balboa Theater. The film will open on August 13 in the U.S. and Orange County theaters.

Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Bryan Lee O’ Malley, this film stars Michael Cera as a 23 year old slacker, Scott, a garage band member, who meets the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers, and decides he must dump his current girlfriend, Knives Chau. Meanwhile, Ramona’s evil exes suddenly show up to fight Scott and he must defeat all seven of them to continue to date Ramona.

I once met Bryan Lee O’Malley way back in the early 90’s amongst an online community of aspiring comic artists (me among them) at Anime Expo. It’s been great to see him hit it big and win awards with his comic. I was jazzed to hear his work would be turned into a film. With that said, a comic-to-film adaptation poses newer challenges. My focus of this review is on the film itself (because I’ve only *cough* skimmed through the comic), directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) and screenplay as written by Wright and Michael Bacall.

When the film begins with a pixilated Universal logo, it establishes its world following video game rules. In essence, the film has a traditional kung fu plot with a slight romantic twist thrown in. The protagonist fights all the baddies until he fights the final boss, not because he killed his brother, but in this case, in order to get the prize--the princess, or Ramona. It pays homage to Street Fighter, Final Fantasy, Sonic and various other games in terms of look, action, point system (numbers that show on the screen), and plot progression. It is likely the older or non-gaming audience will not “get” the film or its references as the film doesn’t particularly spell it out for them, either (and if they do, it loses the joke). “Why do the bad guys turn to bunch of coins when they die?” non-gamers will ask. Well, it’s what happens in video games. The gamers, on the other hand, will say this is one film that truly pays homage to video games, emphasizing its video gamey-ness. No doubt the film was made for gaming/comic fans—this film is bold in that sense.

Although Michael Cera’s casting as the main character feels slightly off, he plays Scott with the right amount of awkward humor. With his skinny body type, it’s still hard to see him as any kind of a fighter, and it’s strange seeing him suddenly do a Street Fighter style “Dragon Punch uppercut combo” without any established “training sequence” (as it happens in films) beforehand--in the comic, the character already looks a lot like a video game character, so this idea doesn’t come off as odd.  Needless to say, the film is more about pure fun than logic. This world’s physics and limits (if there are) are defined by pop culture. Ellen Wong brings much vulnerability to the character of the rejected Knives Chau and provides much of the heart of the film. Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Ramona is more mysterious and isn’t particularly explored in great detail. The film is mainly focused on Scott, who admittedly isn’t very deep, but does go through something of an internal journey throughout the film. Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) is hilariously over-the-top as one of the exes with special powers, as well as Chris Evans (Fantastic Four), who plays an egotistical Hollywood action star.

The action scenes themselves are something right out of a kung fu film, anime, or a video game, with wild particle effects aplenty. They are dazzling light shows with video game physics. One doesn’t really worry that Scott will actually lose any of the battles, but it’s more about one’s curiosity of how differently each battle will play out—think Kung Fu Hustle.

Edgar Wright makes an unusual decision to use many texts in the film to describe people and events as well as sound effects, playing on its comic roots and harking a bit that 60’s Batman campiness. It can be a bit too much, but it does bring attention to the way the film is meant to be processed, given that this film has scores appearing on the screen. No doubt some will complain that the film lacks subtlety.

I enjoyed the film’s use of its rock music track, an audible element that a comic would be unable to express fully. Edgar Wright had mentioned that one of the reasons the project interested him was the fact that he loved music. At one point in the film, during one of Scott’s many battles, the film even briefly turns into a musical, a memorable scene.

Overall, I came away from this film satisfied.  It's a film for gamers and fans of the genre.  The film pulls some surprises that I didn’t expect and I enjoyed how the film came full circle.  At the end, Scott Pilgrim does learn a lesson of sorts, where the video-gamey-ness of the film plays out as symbolism.   True, many things that happen here make more sense in the realm of the comic or a video game than on live-action film.  And, you may need to appreciate games and pop culture to follow the film’s boundaries of possibilities. But, once you remove all the layers, there is a heart at the center of it all, which turns out to be this film’s hidden weapon.

*** out of **** stars