Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Remember first time you saw the concept of bullet-time in a movie? For most of us, it was The Matrix that introduced us to slowing down time to gain a new visual perspective. The Matrix left me feeling blown away at the fresh cinematic approach to visuals and storytelling. But, if I’m honest with myself, it wasn’t this new cinematic approach that made The Matrix one of my favorite science fiction movies of all time; it was the deep narrative and tight script that pulled that movie together. Since then Hollywood has used bullet-time in hundreds of action films, only to fall short when the story doesn’t live up to the visuals.
Like The Matrix, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World offers a completely new visual approach to telling the story. And lucky for us, Director Edgar Wright doesn’t simply rely on the coolness factor of the film’s visuals to carry the picture. Instead, beneath all the glitz and glam is a well thought-out portrayal of the awkwardness of young people in love. How Wright weaves together his visual style with concepts in the film is simply stunning and makes it one of the must-see films of this summer.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is based off a comic book series by Bryan Lee O’Mally. The story focuses on young Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) who like many young people is struggling with his own identity and self esteem. He plays bass in a band called Sex Bob-omb (clever Super Mario reference there) and like many other garage bands, they aren’t all that good. To enhance his self-esteem (and forget about his ex-girlfriend) Scott starts to date a high-schooler named Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). Being much younger than he, Knives is enamored with Scott and thinks it’s cool that he plays in an indie rock band. At first Scott is happy with the relationship, as it boosts his ego, but soon he discovers the reality that an age difference can bring. Knives just isn’t the girl for him.
In a dream, Scott meets a young punk girl named Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). When he later bumps into Ramona at a party, he is convinced it is destiny and he begins to pursue a relationship with her. At first, Ramona is quite reluctant in any kind of relationship with Scott, but she soon gives in to his charm and they go out on a date. Later, at a battle of the bands, Scott is confronted by Matthew Patek (Satya Bhabha) and he learns that if he wants to continue dating Ramona he must defeat her seven evil exes in a Mortal Kombat-style dual to the death. The remainder of the film has us watch as Scott battles each of the seven evil exes, wondering along the way if love with Ramona is actually worth it.
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