Scott Pillgrim vs. The World

Scott Pillgrim vs. The World introduces us to a guy named Scott Pilgrim.  Scott recently got dumped his girlfriend Envy and he takes it upon himself to start dating a 17 year old Asian school girl named Knives Chau.  Yes I said Knives Chau.  Scott is coasting through life and sees no reason he needs to improve his mood until a girl with pink hair enters his dreams.  Scott is mystified by this dream and the girl in it.  I should mention here before I go any further that the entire plot of the movie rests on this girl and from here on out the film proceeds to throw in a myriad of clichés about video games from the 80’s ad 90’s.  Scott goes to a party with his band because they want to see if they can get signed with a record producer like Envy previously did.  At the party Scott meets Ramona Flowers, the girl from his dream and after much cajoling she agrees to go on a date with him and the two become an item.  The relationship bliss between Ramona and Scott lasts all of 24 hours before one of Ramona’s  seven evil ex boyfriends enters the picture to literally fight Scott for Romona’s love.  Does Scott defeat all seven evil ex’s and win Ramona’s heart?  I can’t say but the film is a ton of fun to watch.

This film is not really all that complicated and that’s just fine with me.  The idea of having to defeat your girlfriends seven evil ex’s is a hilarious premise, but the appeal of the film has to be its humor in not taking itself seriously and also providing the audience with one of the most useful cheap laughs in cinematic history that being tons of videogame tie ins.  The videogame tie ins aren’t just used for cheap laughs though they are used when Scott discovers things about himself, fighting the evil ex’s and when he is using the bathroom to urinate.  I think that if it weren’t for the seemingly random videogame jokes thrown into the film this would be a pretty worthless movie.  Michael Cera who plays Scott Pilgrim does an acceptable job as the character but, you can’t help thinking you’ve seen him play this same type of character in absolutely every movie he’s been in.  The rest of the cast are servicable enough but the one standout for me has to be Kieran Culkin (yes Macaulay Culkin’s brother) as Scott’s gay roommate Wallace Wells.  This character stands out in my opinion because he just loves to mess with Scott and flirt with guys he can’t have but succeeds in getting.

I liked this film because it fostered nostalgia in me about videogames that admittedly still hold a special place in my heart.  This film will appeal to children born anytime between 1986 and 1993 because in my opinion that was when these videogames were at their peak.  Viewers may also go because they like Michael Cera or the premise of the film.  This movie is every 20-30 year olds excuse to nerd out at the theater.  After seeing this film you’ll wonder why it wasn’t made sooner.  I enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone who needs a laugh.