Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Title: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
Director: Edgar Wright
Genre: Action, Comedy
Lead Actor(s): Michael Cera
Rating: PG-13
112 minutes

Again this is a movie based on a comic book I have not read. The movie centers around Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera). He sees a girl, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and becomes utterly infatuated with her, despite the fact his is dating a high school student, Knives Chau. Despite the protests of members in his band and his sister, Pilgrim pursues her and ends up dating her. Unfortunately she has 7 evil exes, with super powers, determined to destroy Pilgrim for the love of Flowers. Pilgrim must fight and destroy each one in order to win the right to date Flowers.

I know that several people love Michael Cera, but I don’t think he is strong enough to carry a movie on his own. Despite Scott Pilgrim being the protagonist, I found myself enjoying the supporting character far more than the main character. That being said, I did like seeing this lanky nerdy guy in these crazy action sequences. It is the aftermath of the battles and the scenes leading up to it that are lacking. His character is very much like every other character he has played, and that is fine because they work in supporting roles, but the personality is not strong enough to base a movie around. I have not seen the other movie where Cera plays the lead, Youth in Revolt, but I didn’t really feel a need to see it.

The supporting characters make this movie. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is subtly funny as Flowers. She has a whole festival of crazy going on around her and she is still very calm about it all. Kieran Culkin plays Pilgrim’s gay roommate, Wallace. He is probably my favorite character in the movie. His character is the funniest and the ego he has is fitting for the character, whereas Pilgrim’s seems inflated and aggravating. The drummer is his band, Kim (Alison Pill), also has a very strong character that is funny without pushing it down your throat. I also love all the exes, particularly the last one. There were times I was almost rooting for the exes because they were far more interesting than the main character.

I also particularly liked the style of the movie. It is very old school video game-y. Pilgrim gets points for each ex he defeats and they shatter into coins. There are also flash back sequences that are apparently in the style of the comic. It is a somewhat romantic film, but it is unlike any that I have seen. In basically every genre, the movie is unique. The movie was also really funny. I think it could have been funnier and significantly better, if someone besides Cera were cast. It is still a fun and geeky and good movie. I will probably buy it, but due to the style I think this would be a great one to see in theaters.

******* 6/10