Scott Pilgrim vs The World –
Bryan O’ Malley has been acclaimed several awards and nominations which include winning the 2006 Joe Shuster award for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Artist, 2010 Harvey Award for Humor, as well as past Eisner and Harvey Award nominations. So he has talent I would say. Yes he does! Also, this is seen with his musical alias ‘Kupek’ and it’s safe to say Canada is proud of Bryan.
The comic book ‘Scott Pilgrim vs the World’ was broken down into 6 chapters but as expected the film would be taking a different tone, and it still remained a blessing that O’Malley would be consulting on Edgar Wright’s spin on this cult phenomenon. As a fan of the book, I did think they’d deliver but could I be wrong? It ached me to wonder that in Hollywood, there is the possibility of a muck-up.
Wright was on the heels of Shaun of the Dead, and Malley just wanted his product sold, so once Wright showed the dedication to the film, and got a sound cast, I’d think all would be well. After all, in Trinidad and Tobago, this sort of film would be hard to accept unless you read and loved comics. Jeniffer’s Body was one I loved as Megan Fox is super hot and it played off indie rock, old rock n roll references, cult comics and horror stories…and remained a fun spin on things…and as for Scott Pilgrim...Nintendo and old school MTV comes to mind, with measured doses of indie rock, driving bass lines, techno and electronic…and good ole fashioned romance!
Cera delivers the role that Arrested Development, Juno, Superbad etc taught him to deliver…and the utter shambles and nervousness, coupled with the suave play of young innocent naïve girls, is well perfected by Cera. He has an underlying confidence and slyness that Scott required. He is indeed the epitome of Pilgrim! This never falters during the film. His best performance to date remains this one in my opinion. Knives Chau is well done as annoying as she is hot young jailbait by Ellen Wong, and she represents the ideal comic clinger. Mary Winstead looks less attractive than we’re accustomed to, but her beauty is never undermined with the vomitacious hair…she remains uber-hot! Her role as Ramona still left some to be desired but she passed the test. The film sticks close to the book, especially with the Matthew Patel battle, which Satya Babha pulls off well a la Mclovin, and it was pleasing to see them sticking to their guns on the source.
They really topped it with Chris Evans as Lucas, the 2nd ex…with a hilarious yet appeasing battle scene. Evans shows diversity and remains a damn fine pick for Steve Rogers, as the book again is played well on the cinema screen. The added quips and extra additions, with the adequate subtractions from the book, all mesh well and give the feeling of a visceral enjoyment…and you can’t help but laugh. The humor may be underlying at some point but it still remains that this is typical teen angst and loss in the romantic game. Nerds and Jocks alike would love this!
Brandon Routh, Thomas Jane and Clifton Collins Jr all make the ensuing battle one of the best sequences of the past 5 years…bass lines and all. It’s all good…and all rocking. Brie Larson as Envy Adams delivers a seductive role, which to me, ranks as 2nd best to Cera’s in this film, and her beauty and sexiness, is too much…too much I say. Vegan and Dust…OMG…LMFAO…nuff said.
The film deviates from the source here but to good effect. Scott’s friends are all well portrayed with Kieran Culkin, Allison Pill, Aubry Plaza, Anna Kendrick, Mark Webber and Johnny Simmons all literally bringing the characters to life with a simplicity that made me wonder…Damn! The fun exchanges remained the kind of kicks and shits and giggles that I got when reading the books! With the film now scoping its own path into battling the further exes such as Roxanne and the Twins, it’s not one that gets convoluted, but you can’t help but wait for the final battle. The CGI, special effects and video game references are all what made Malley’s book rock hard…and WRIGHT gets it spot on…definitely.
The final half of the film, as stated, is more or less a new script from the stuff of the books, but Malley did oversee a lot, so when I wondered if the Gideon battle would be done justice, I guess I was pleased cuz it rocked. Mary even elevated her role and her character here, and overall, the final sequence delivered.
The action was amazing, and the romantic notions and nuances gave a subtle catharsis that we could all relate to…this is simply a great romance of the 21st century. Though the end felt a bit rushed and gave a hurried resolution, by that time, I didn’t want too happy an ending, but not too sad…and the melancholy overtone of the book, and the infinite sadness that could be felt, even in victory, remained something that I wondered could be captivated on screen…and they did just that.
We got an ending that was different to the book in many ways, but similar in the main vein, and I loved what I saw…simplicity and straight forward. In this film they used a simple equation that should be used as the formula for a lot of comic book movies. There was a lot of sticking to the source, with lore deviations that made sense…it was of the Vaughn’s KICK-ASS nature and with Malley nearby, Wright and his cast…got the job done.
It is a visually pleasing film, with aesthetic musical nature…and simply, reminds me F—K the playstation, old school vintage NINTENDO FTW! Don’t get a life…GET A 1-UP!!!
This gets a 9.2/10…up, up, down, down, left, right, left right, A..B..A..