Maybe it's just because I'm a 20-something dork, much like Scott and his friends, that this movie resonates so strongly with me. But "Scott Pilgrim" is one of the most refreshingly original films I've seen in a long time and is a welcome change of pace from the sequels, reboots and remakes that so often dominate the box office.
Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a 22-year-old slacker from Toronto whose only job is playing bass with the band Sex Bob-omb. He's dating a high schooler named Knives Chau (Ellen Wong), and he lives with his gay best friend and confidant Wallace Wells (Kieran Culkin).
He coasts by in a world of hipsters, gamers and slackers, but everything changes when he meets Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), an American punk who works as a delivery girl for Amazon. She's hesitant to his dorky advances at first but ultimately falls for him because unlike her former lovers, he's actually a nice guy.
But being with Ramona is no easy task. Scott soon discovers if they want to be together, he'll have to fight and defeat her seven evil exes, ranging from macho skater-turned-movie star Lucas Lee (Chris Evans) to pint-sized punk Roxy Richter(Mae Whitman) to slick record exec Gideon Gordon Graves (Jason Schwartzman).
If you're reluctant to see "Scott Pilgrim" because of Cera's "he always plays the same role" stigma, think again. True, he does play another scrawny, nerdy underdog here, but he does it with a renewed vigor that has been missing from many of his other recent performances. His comic timing and line delivery is perfect in this film.
Director Edgar Wright has assembled quite the who's who of up-and-coming young talent for his supporting cast. In addition to Winstead, Wong and Culkin, Alison Pill, Johnny Simmons, Mark Webber, Anna Kendrick and Aubrey Plaza round out Scott's ragtag group of friends. All of them click as an ensemble but Pill and Culkin emerge as the standouts, her with her stone-cold glares and him with his matter-of-fact wit.
Wong and Simmons are also frequently scene stealers, with her over-the-top attempts to re-gain Scott's affections and his mellow, deadpan reactions to his friends' zany adventures.
All of the actors playing the seven evil exes are perfectly cast, especially Evans and Schwartzman, but Brandon Routh as vegan bassist Todd Ingram is an absolute riot in his scene. Between this movie and his "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" cameo, it's clear Routh needs to leave his Superman image behind and pursue more comedic roles.
Wright and Michael Bacall's sharp script is some of the sharpest writing I've seen in a long while, and Wright's direction, as usual, is practically flawless. With "Spaced," "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz" already under his belt, he's quickly proving to be one of the most innovative directors working today. Fast-paced action, eye-popping visuals and quick cuts are all trademarks of his that work wonders with "Scott Pilgrim." All of the movie's elements fall neatly into place, but it is Wright's imaginative vision that makes all of that possible.
True, its paltry fifth-place opening makes it a box office disappointment, but since when has box office been a good indicator of the quality of a movie? (The fact that a stale amalgam of pop culture references like "Vampires Suck" could outgross the raw brilliance of "The Hurt Locker," for example, is astounding.) It might not be resonating with the mainstream right now, but "Scott Pilgrim" is the type of movie that years down the road a generation of gamers, hipsters, punks and nerds will remember fondly as the film that captured their youth. A-
