An amazing combination of comic-book and video game mould, Scott Pilgrim has successfully pulled off what a lot of video game adaptation fail to do....which is to make a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining feature that has the look and sound of a live video game (with tons of homages) but isn't actually based on a game. Scott Pilgrim is based on the graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley, where the plot revolves around our hero who falls for a mysterious girl called Romana, but love does not run so smoothly for our hero. Unfortunately for Scott, he already has a girlfriend (Knives Chau played by Ellen Wong ) who is totally besotted with him and his band Sex Bob-Ombs. With his awkward and nerdy persona, hilarity ensues as Scott tries his hardest not to let either girls find out about each other. Another problem is that there are seven evil exes that he must defeat in order to win her heart.
Edgar Wright has made a film littered with references to the video games ranging from the title sequence 8-bit musical and visual reinterpretation to the odd incidental music thrown in from classic games like Zelda, to Streetfighter intros to every commencing fight, along with Wrights signature quick fire edits and cuts. We are bombarded with so many visual gags and dialogue it can be hard to keep up sometimes (though I'd like to see it as a good excuse to watch it again to pick up on certain elements you may have missed the first time round so it's a win win!)
The film plays out so much like a video game but alongside its simple structure lies a brilliant performance from Michael Cera. He makes you root for the lovable loser/geek who strikes gold when his band (Sex Bob-omb another video game reference) enters a battle of the bands competition who manage to progress but along the way encounters several of Romana exes where Scott has to step up and outwit and dispatch each of the evil exes. Cera who must feel like he is forever destined to play the shy, awkward geek but unluckily for him he just plays the role so well. I can't imagine anyone else suited to this material. I was never a massive fan of Cera's but he did win me over in this film. There's a certain innocent charm about his acting that I feel this film wouldn't have worked as well if someone else played it instead. Let him be forever type casted I say.
The blend of comic-book, video games, music and manga are mixed together and thrown back up into a successful and seamless cohesion that it makes you wonder how so many video game adaptation can get it so wrong. Shame this isn't based on an actually video game.
With so much energy, inventiveness and vibrancy from the acting and directing, it's a crying shame that America didn't actually "get" this film. It didn't set the box office alight when it was initially released and same goes for it's UK release. It's an entertaining and light hearted mix where everyone seems to be enjoying themselves and not taking it too seriously. The film deserves a bigger audience and I wish it all the luck in gaining more than the cult following it has at the moment.17/20
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