So, in the history of film in the contemporary era, the video game to movie transition has been a exceedingly difficult task. In fact, most movies based on games fail to capture the its essence and turn out to be soulless, unfaithful and in short, shit. I’m not surprised as there is alot to take on board, but maybe its smarter to avoid this, and in order to truly give video games its dignity on the silver screen, maybe make movies based on material that concern video games.
Enter - Scott Pilgram Vs. The World.
Based on the indie comic book series Scott Pilgram by Bryan Lee O’Malley, the film enters the mystical world of Toronto, Canada into the video game/pop culture world of Scott Pilgram (Michael Cera), a 22 year old awkward slacker. He’s in a band called Sex Bob-Omb (AWESOME), he lives with an eccentric gay roommate Wallace (Kieran Culkin) and dates a high school student, the innocent yet adorable Knives Chou (Ellen Wong). But Scott’s world drastically changes when he falls in utter love (or lust?) with the alternate, hair changing babe Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), to which in dating her unleashes The League Of Evil Exes, which Pilgram must defeat in order to continue dating.
The film is directed by one of the more creative unique directors today, Edgar Wright, who directed two comedic masterpieces in 2004s genre/sensation creating zom-rom-com Shaun Of The Dead and 2007s action movie satire Hot Fuzz. Both these films contained fast editing, fast acting, loads of action and ALOT of comedy. In short, there’s alot to follow. However, in Wrights premiere turn in Hollywood, his filmmaking is not hindered, but rather flourishes with the inflated budget. He continues with a common trend. Where Shaun Of The Dead is a love letter to Zombie Movies, Hot Fuzz to Action Movies, Scott Pilgram Vs. The World is a love letter to Video Games, heck, Teen Pop Culture of Generation Y.
Wright lovingly adapts the spirit of the comics to the screen with an intense, colourful vigour in every sense. The script very much extracts dialogue right from O’Malley’s pages, but still manages to make it very much an Edgar Wright film, a difficult task one would think without Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The comedy is extremely kinetic, and benefits from Wrights British sensibilities, making a film as funny as his previous two films.
The style of the film reminds you of the beautiful piece of shit that is the Wachowski Bros.’ Speed Racer, just out the wahzoo, aided by an excellent script. One cannot start to describe the eye popping effects, but unlike most films, helps the film immensely, effectively creating a world that is exactly like one would believe being inside a video game, or even the comic itself. Its a joy to look at, from the action packed flaming sword fights, to the smallest effect of a character turning on a lightswitch and having the word “click” appear in tiny font above it.
Of course, the script and effects can be said to be half of what makes up the whole awesome spectacle that is Scott Pilgram Vs. The World. Part of the other half is the ensemble cast, one which is full of youthful excellence.
Michael Cera as Scott Pilgram seems to be the only logical choice for the role, and even if you’re not a reader of the comics, its hard to see anyone who could carry such a role. The man (or boy, i don’t know) really doesn’t have much range, he’s a character in himself. In fact, he has played riffs off his awkward Arrested Development character George Michael his whole career, and this is not at all a bad thing. Cera’s never disappoints with his rambling awkward humour, and here he provides in spades, here as someone completely average, dumb and yet so awesome, he knows how to kick ass, he knows how to get the girl and scare her away all at once. Who knows where he will go from here filmically, he somehow knows how to surprise.
However, better than Cera is his strong support, with Kieran Culkin (of the famed Culkin family) returning to the screen after quite the hiatus since 2002s excellent Igby Goes Down, as Wallace the gay roommate, who provides some of the best moments in the film, constantly turning men gay, making Pilgrams life a little more troublesome, or just by saying something in a hilariously drole manner, the man is talented. Ellen Wong as Knives Chou is an eyepoppingly intense performance, one that is all cute, creepy, funny, sad all rolled into one loveable person. Mary Elizabeth Winstead (aka daughter of John McClane) is a believable dreamboat, just a pleasure to watch.
I could really go on and on about how good everyone is in each role, but its better to leave that up to you the viewer. However it must be mentioned the eclectic performances of the League of Xs, with standouts from Chris Evans’ cocky jock movie star Lucas Lee, Brandon Routh’s psychic vegan bassist Tood Ingram, Mae Whitman (Arrested Development’s Ann Veal) as the jaded lesbian fling Roxanne “Roxy” Richter and of course, the always awesome Jason Schwartzman as the super evil big boss Gideon Graves. Each performance bounces off each other, stealing each scene they appear.
So with the cast being one part of the aforementioned awesome other half, the soundtrack fills the other part, utilizing a rich and excellent array of sounds, be it from the songs of Sex Bob-Omb, penned by the godly Beck, as well as the use of such artists as T.Rex, Metric, The Rolling Stones and the sound of Canada, Broken Social Scene. Its an excellent indie sound to an indie spirited film.
What more can be said about this film really? It just goes to show that not all comics adaptations need to be about superheroes, nor should they! Nor should the video game style be relegated to shitty video game adaptations. It is a film that is nothing but positive energy from the first frame. Of course, with the wide range of video game and pop culture references, one may feel discouraged if not familiar, but really the film is so rich with enjoyable elements its still insanely enjoyable. And, if you do get these references, you will likely adore the experience more.
Older audiences may not discover the same amount of enjoyment either than people born during the 80s and 90s, its very much targeted at this era, a golden age of video games, so it can definitely be seen as niche. But enjoyment can still be had, as the film really is a reminder of what it is to be young, to see the world in an imaginative light, to deal with the issues of young love and just having fun, a great nostalgia in itself.
As for Edgar Wright, who knows what you will bring in what this reviewer hopes to be a long and quality career.
5/5
