Friday 27 August 2010

Film Review: Scott Pilgrim 1, The World 0

Every comic book geek and hardcore gamer’s wet dream

Right from the off, Scott Pilgrim vs The World will have every video game fan’s thumbs fidgeting with excitement. For those who have always wondered what living in their PlayStation would be like, this is the Holy Grail.


With more game references than you can shake a console at, Scott must defeat his new girlfriend’s seven evil exes in a series of spectacular battles complete with onomatopoeia, points totals and sucker punches galore


Less of an adaptation and more of a photocopy, Edgar Write literally brings the original comic book to life. The film is a perfect illustration of why comic books and games go so well together. In fact, it’s often hard to tell where the game references end and the comic book references begin.


If you strip away the glorious visual effects, the film is essentially just another ‘loser kid seeks popular girl’ teen rom-com, complete with all the clichés that entails. But the ingenious wit reminiscent of Write’s previous projects ‘Shaun Of The Dead’ and ‘Hot Fuzz’ helps to make it genuinely captivating and, at times, laugh-out-loud hilarious.


Michael Cera is typecast yet again as the lovable geek Scott Pilgrim, but it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role. His love interest - the sickeningly cool Ramona Flowers - is played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who puts in a slightly wooden performance. However, it’s the appearance of Hollywood heavyweights Brandon Routh and Chris Evans that steals the show. Routh’s ludicrous vegan super hero and Evans’ action man parody are by far the most memorable of all the evil exes.


Music also plays an important role in the film, with Scott’s band ‘Sex Bob Omb’ competing in the local Battle Of The Bands competition. The fictitious band – whose music is provided by Beck – feature on the impressive soundtrack alongside many other powerful punk and indie tracks.


Scott Pilgrim vs The World has something for everyone, providing you are a young enough to know what Nintendo is. And if it receives the popularity it deserves then, like most comic book movies that have come before, it is sure to spawn many money making sequels.


So, Game Over?



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