Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World by Edgar Wright



There is this great misfortune in the world of cinema that the greatest entertainments are often overlooked. People tend to watch relatively tasteless and awful films and a great film like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World suffers at the box office. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is the story of one boys journey through the deadly baggage of his new girlfriend. In this film the baggage happens to be seven evil exes who fight and try to kill Pilgrim in video game styled fight sequences.

It is the great joy of this film that it is so informed by our contemporary culture with references to games like Street Fighter to sitcoms like Seinfeld. The film becomes an inventive exercise in style that maintains its large heart and delightful story. The strength beneath all of this is, of course, the direction. Some movies are writer's movies, some are actor's movies, and some are very much a showcase of directorial style. Scott Pilgrim displays Edgar Wrights typical flair for fast cutting, clever dialogue, and performances that are perfectly skewed to capture character. As mentioned before there is a brilliant reference to Seinfeld in which the entire scene takes place in a kitchen, has the soundtrack of Seinfeld, and even the sitcom laugh track which results in one of the more inspired and hilarious scenes in modern movies.

Something must be said, too, about Michael Cera in this film. Often seen as a one note player, it is refreshing to see someone pulling the right amount of quirk and heart out of Cera in the way Wright does. Michael Cera is perfect in the role of Scott Pilgrim and brings a great center to the character allowing the audience to relate and empathize with him even through all the over-the-top wacky antics that happen in the film that might take away from a weaker film. All in all Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is a great, often perfect, film that represents all the silly fascinations of our generation.

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