Scott Pilgrim vs the World Review

I reviewed this movie on facebook when I first saw it in the theatre.  I loved it then and I love it now.  It is absolutely brilliant.  While I've never read the comic books that it is based on, I imagine that it is very true to them.  This is because you actually feel like you are immersed in a comic book for the whole two hours.  It utilizes weird sound effects, cutaways that feel like they're actually comic panes and contrasting colour and lighting that feels real yet surreal at the same time.  Scott Pilgrim also stays very consistent.  In most movies, there are one or two parts that just don't feel like they belong.  This usually happens in the middle or near the end.  But this film doesn't have that.  It flows very well.  The viewer does have to pay attention though.  While there is plenty of obvious and out there humour to keep you entertained, there is also a lot of subtlety that you really have to pay attention to get.

What makes this movie great, though is the combination of directing and acting.  The whole thing is brilliantly directed by Edgar Wright.  The visuals and special effects are fantastic.  Like I said, they make you feel like you are in a live action comic book.  I also really liked the video game motif throughout the whole thing.  That was quite original and very well done.

The movie is also excellently cast which allows for the great acting.  There isn't a character in the film that isn't made believable simply because they got the right person to play it.  The two that really stick out though are Michael Cera and Kieran Culkin.  Cera has always been able to play the geeky, quiet, awkward guy right from his days as George Michael Bluth on Arrested Development.  Here, he takes it to the next level because, while Scott Pilgrim seems to be a bit of a weirdo and kind of a loser, you really connect with him and want to be him.  Kieran Culkin steals every scene he's in.  His part is definitely supporting.  He doesn't dominate any of his scenes like John Malkovich in RED or Steve Carrell in Anchorman (two roles where they do steal every scene) but, without Culkin being the understated, cool friend, those scenes would have fell flat.

Definitely see it.  It is not only a good story and good movie, it is presented in such a unique and interesting way.  It takes a realistic setting and brings in ludicrous fantasy in a fun and visually different way.  It is definitely not just more of the same in a comedy or comic book movie.