"Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" Review

I was lucky enough to sit in on a screening of Edgar Wright's new comic adaptation flick "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" last night, and here are my thoughts...

Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is 22 years old and he is about to go through some major turmoil. He is recovering from a tremendously awful break-up, has a band, a gay roommate, and two girlfriends; one is a 17 year old Asian schoolgirl named Knives (Ellen Wong) and the other is the hip, bad-girl named Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). She has 7 evil exes and if Scott wants be with her, he has to beat all of them, but here’s the catch; they all control the destiny of her love life and without overcoming all of them with his own bare hands, he can never be with her. In the ultimate underdog story, "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" is about how Scott learns, loves, and kicks some major ass to overcome a gauntlet of foes and his worst enemy within himself. Told in a unique blend of retro-video game and comic book styling, Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) brings this epic graphic novel to the big screen, and damn does he do a bang-up job. His fast-paced editing and perspective are dead on and really make the action, narrative, and romanticism of the film cohesive. Having not read more than the first book in the series, I don't have much of a frame of reference but this thing was awesome. Each "Evil Ex" brought a new brand of special power the fight sequences, and seeing Scott battle them each in a unique "Boss Fight" style was entertaining and visually incredible (and that's without the finished special fx). It is literally the real life version of “Mega Man 2” at times (complete with health meters and power-ups), and it works astonishingly well. Whereas Scott seems to be the normal scrawny teenager on the surface, his advisories have overt superpowers; some can fly, shoot fireballs, and materialize dragons, but he is able to find their respective Achilles’ heels and overcome them all for the love of his Ramona. The film DEFINITELY has a target audience in (for the lack of a better word) nerds, and treats them well with a plethora of pop cultural and cult references along with a heavy dose of video game mechanics to manipulate the way the story pans out. The acting was incredible throughout the entire cast; Cera nailed it as Pilgrim by combining his awkward teenager know-how with a sort of cocky-confidence, making a character that falls outside of his usual typecast role. His roommate (Kieran Caulkin) is also incredible as a sort of gay older brother/fatherly role; he is there to tell Scott to fight, but only when he's not too busy seducing the men around him in the most overt and hysterical ways (in one scene he steals Scott’s sister’s boyfriend… that’s all I’m saying, and it is most excellent). I found that his character was the scene stealer as the movie progressed. The music is another HUGE part of the film, and it too is incredible. I'm not sure how much of it is finalized, but the performances are almost as important as the triumphant fight scenes. "The Sex Bob-Ombs" (that's Scott's band) provide the soundtrack for his life, and his vicious fights often occur during the band's scheduled shows, including a Battle of the Bands. Wright did a fantastic job of blurring the line between graphic novel and reality with “Scott Pilgrim” and in doing so created something really special and unique. His style and technique is impeccable, and his direction yields an incredibly entertaining film from start to finish. Definitely a must see when this hits theaters this summer.