Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

Directed By: Edgar Wright

Starring: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jason Schwartzman, & Kieran Culkin

MPAA Rating: PG-13

My Rating: 10 / 10

This is why you shouldn't prejudge a movie. When Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was in theaters, I was convinced that it wasn't my type of movie. Because of that, I flat-out refused to spend $10 to see it in theaters...a decision that disappoints me now. Why, you ask? Well, because Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is exactly the kind of movie I love: endlessly funny, surprisingly intelligent, and visually innovative. In a time when most movies set out to be point-and-shoot narratives with no style and no personality, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is two of the most original and unique hours of film you'll see this year. Director Edgar Wright has made some good, funny movies in the past (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, etc.), but this movie, a cinematic adaptation of a popular graphic novel series, is doubtlessly his masterpiece. It tells the story of the titular Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) who must defeat the seven evil ex-boyfriends of his new girlfriend, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), if he wants to date her.

I would be lying if I said that Michael Cera wasn't a big reason why I didn't see Scott Pilgrim in theaters. It isn't that I don't like him...it's just that he is a completely one-note actor who has, essentially, been playing the same character ever since his breakout in 2007's Superbad. Sometimes, his shtick works and, sometimes, it doesn't. I am pleased to say that it has never worked better than it does here. Charming, hilarious, and sympathetic, he displays flawless comedic timing and a firm grasp of how to pull off over-the-top drama with deadpan seriousness. He's so important to this movie because, as he is in almost every frame and represents the film's heart and soul, the movie would have failed had he failed. He does quite the opposite, and so the film is allowed, right from the beginning, to spread its gloriously whacky wings and fly. I don't think will will ever see a movie that solidifies Cera as an actor with longevity, but Scott Pilgrim is certainly the biggest feather in his cap yet.

And for co-writer and director Edgar Wright, Scott Pilgrim probably marks the beginning of a new phase of his career. With this movie, he has shown exactly what he is capable of...which is making groundbreaking and innovative films...and now, he will have to live up to that in future projects. There isn't a moment of complacency here. Every second of footage is injected with some new, fresh, and video game-inspired flair that is sure to keep audiences on their toes. The action scenes, breathlessly-paced and completely outrageous, are like the song-and-dance routines in musicals. They are utterly essential and periodically punctuate the movie with explosions of colors and hyperkinetic visuals. The movie wisely avoids giving a definitive answer as to whether or not they really occur or are just an extravagant creation of Scott's geeked-out mind (the debate of whether or not the film is real or a dream is a pretty heated one, apparently), and I appreciated that. Scott Pilgrim isn't the kind of movie that can or should be placed in a box. It is what it is...and we, the viewers, should be able to accept it without trying to define it with traditional standards.

Like The Human Centipede, this is a "love it or hate it" kind of movie. Unlike The Human Centipede, I actually loved this movie. While I appreciate standard, paint-by-number movies every now and again, I think (and hope you agree) that Hollywood has become more business than art in the past few decades...a sad fact that has kept films as wonderfully inventive as Scott Pilgrim from us for far too long. Sadly, its disappointing box-office tallies will probably make studio executives even more fearful of funding such ambitious and original products. That's too bad, because this is, without a doubt, one of the freshest and most intriguing films of the past few years, as well as one of the stand-out films of 2010. Some people won't jive with its visual style; they will sadly mistake it to be self-satisfying and pretentious. I completely disagree. Here is a movie that revels in its own geekiness, and embraces the video game generation with open arms, giving them everything they could ever want in a movie. You see, Edgar Wright is not the kind of artist who makes art to please himself; he makes art to please his audience...and he knows exactly what they want.