A Pilgrimage of 1-Ups and Evil Exes

His hair's a little shaggy...

When I first saw the trailer to Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, I was enticed with a sneak peek of video game-esque special effects, colorful characters, and a simple storyline of young love which I later learned is based off of a comic book. What I actually got at the pre-screening was a blast of epic nonstop action, hilarity, and a whole lot of “WTF is going on?!?!” lost in a fit of laughter. Right from the beginning of this movie, I was at full alert trying to absorb video game references, characters with dynamically relatable personalities, and punch lines. Yes I am fully aware that my first three sentences all contain serial commas which is exactly what my brain was listing in every scene. I really don’t have anything to negatively say about this movie. Some could complain about the cast not being Hollywood enough. I say it allowed them to play with their characters more which made them more relatable as human beings. I can confidently say that this movie has somehow revamped the sentimental sub-culture of adolescence and garage punk gamers to create it’s style of humor and story-telling that I‘m sure other films will soon attempt to follow.

Just one glance at the lanky Scott Pilgrim makes you wonder how in the world he would stand a chance. I’ll admit, the actors/actresses aren’t the sexiest or most visually stunning people to look at. But I considered that a major plus in this movie. Each character stood out from one another and let you know right away their significance in the movie, even actors/actresses with the least amount of screen time were able to leave a powerful impact with their own unique style of speaking and interaction with the unrealistically outlandish video game influenced world they were in.

Cross counter!

Although I was unaware of the plethora of video game implications, whether it be subtle or full blown in your face “KOs”, I should have already had an idea what to expect with the first shot starting with an 8-bit version of the Universal Pictures opening. It wasn’t just one genre of action/adventure most would expect a video game influenced movie dabbled in, there were also RPG, guitar battling, and fighting elements as well. After watching each Ex heavily playing on a these genres, my appreciation for the almighty quarter has been renewed. I should not forget to mention the comic book style narration and presentations of "Thonk"s, "KROWW"s and ":O" Ranging from pee meters to Vegan psychics, I became thoroughly stimulated with the special effects the production team provided.

Speaking of which, just the production line-up itself should have indicated what to expect. The writer and director of previous memorable films, “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz”, Edgar Wright, coupled with the cinematographer of the Matrix series and “Army of Darkness”, Bill Pope, clearly left their impression of “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” with quirky quick cut dialogues bouncing around with back and forth point of views and pop up style visual comments allowed me to feel like the “quiet guy in the back of the group”, viewing all the inside jokes and mishaps that most people usually wouldn’t be aware of. I quite honestly can only remember half of the what was said in the movie due to the massively overwhelming stimulation of laughter I was experiencing, already giving me the perfect excuse to watch the movie again to rediscover the other half that.

Dare I risk over hyping this movie with such a praising review? It’s possible I could have been distracted by so many things happening at once like riding a high speed rollercoaster while reading a comic book. Regardless I can’t help but express my appreciation towards this movie on multiple accounts. This movie makes me want to get out there and epically seize whatever goals and dreams I want to achieve in my life. Whether button mashing my way towards a raise at work, solving a puzzle to unlock a new car, maybe even give in towards the temptation of using a cheat code. Without a doubt, I’m going to go watch this movie again probably even go buy the comic book it’s originally based off of simply because I lesbian it.