Scott Pilgrim Pleases

Every now and then, a movie comes along that has literally everything you could ever want. Of course, this is very, very rare. The mark of a truly excellent movie is that it has the ability to transcend genre, that it has multiple elements intertwining and synthesizing to form a powerful and dynamic story.

One movie that I have loved since the very first time I saw it is Shaun of the Dead. For those of you who haven’t seen it, it’s basically a romantic comedy with zombies. Yes, it turns out that fighting off hordes of zombies+ a hero driven by love+ explorations of the meaning of friendship+ funny pub scenes+ video game and electro-funk references is a formula to an excellent movie.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, Shaun of the Dead, the equally zany and adventurous Hot Fuzz, and this most recent amazing movie, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, were all directed by the same man, Edgar Wright. His unique stamp is prominent on all three movies; with hidden nuggets of hilarious little side comments and background antics, you have to watch the movie several times to fully appreciate all of them. (Some examples of this: the bloodstains all over the store that the protagonist is oblivious to as he ambles through his daily routine in Shaun of the Dead, the fact that the villainous cult of Hot Fuzz is called the N.W.A, and the briefly shown hit singles of Scott’s ex-girlfriend entitled “You Suck” and “Stop Calling Me”).

Scott Pilgrim has literally everything that someone (read: a semi-nerdy teenager) would ever want to see in a movie. In case you missed its sweet trailers, the movie follows the epic adventure of 23-year-old Scott Pilgrim who must battle through seven evil exes to remain with the enigmatic girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers. This isn’t just regular current boyfriend vs. ex-boyfriend animosity full of snide emails and dirty looks thrown across the room – this is full on punching, kicking, joint locking and fireball throwing battles for love and honor.

Its visceral, explosive style and presentation set Scott Pilgrim apart from other lukewarm romances. The entire movie is told like one giant, epic video game or comic book. In fact, the movie is based off of a series of comics written by artist Brian O’Malley. But don’t worry; you don’t need to have any sort of foreknowledge to enjoy this movie. Even if the Zelda music that plays during one of Scott’s dream sequences and the Sonic the Hedgehog sound effects go over your head, the colorful and comical characters are more than enough to satiate any moviegoers. Between a telepathic vegan, a super-seductive gay roommate, a pompous actor named Lucas Lee (reference!), and Scott’s uncomfortably young initial girlfriend (she’s 17!), there’s more character driven humor than a Seinfeld episode. Oh, right, they reference that, too.

Now, it turns out that for the majority of the movie, Scott kind of acts like a dick. Sure, he’s sweet and charming, but it seems that he’s unaware of the impact he can have on those around him and the responsibilities that that entails.
But honestly, this movie just speaks to me — and probably a lot of other people too. Seriously, this movie is amazing