The Independent London Newspaper
Cinema: Review - Scott Pilgrim Versus The World
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Published: 26 August 2010
by DAN CARRIER
SOME items in films define a period. Examples: Michael J Fox’s body warmer and high-top Nikes in Back To The Future, or the slang used by Bill and Ted in their Excellent Adventure. One can’t help but feel that Scott Pilgrim will be looked at in a similar light in a couple of decades’ time. There is a sense of this capturing a zeitgeist – pop references litter each scene.
The Scott Pilgrim thing may have passed you by – it has me – but recently I was walking past a bookshop and was amazed to see a queue stretching for hundreds of yards. I asked the motley collection of day-glo goth teens and nerdy thirtysomethings who they were waiting to meet, and was shown a comic book called Scott Pilgrim. The author, Bryan Lee O’Malley, was the draw. He has created a smash-hit series of graphic novels and the film is loyal to his creation.
Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a bit of a slacker. Aged 23, living in Toronto, he is a bassist in a rock band and faces a rather stiff challenge: to do battle with the League of Evil Exes, seven previous fellows whom the object of his affections, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), has dated.
For those who are into the books, I can imagine this film is nothing but a couple of hours of undiluted fun. For those who are not au fait with the story, it can feel a little confusing.
Director Edgar Wright has managed to transport the sense of the graphic novel onto the screen and give this a computer game twist. It has a sense of wackiness too – which is to be expected when you consider Wright with was responsible for Shaun of the Dead. If you are a Scott Pilgrim fan, then this is a must. If not, I imagine you are more likely to be converted into one by reading the graphic novels first.
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