I still haven’t read the comic, but I will judge the movie

It’s probably telling that of all the jokes in the film - and there are a lot of jokes in this film - the funniest in my mind was a subtle, off-hand comment said during a crowd scene:

“Everyone is going to say the comic book is better than the movie”

It broke the fourth wall, it made a stark-yet-true prediction, it was a tell-tale sign of modern blockbuster cinema. In my head, it was what Edgar Wright really wanted from the movie.

Of his most recognisable previous works: Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Wright would often use tropes set up by the film’s genres (horror and buddy-cop respectively) to judge both the genre and the world it was inhibiting. Of course, some would argue that changing the locale from his native Britain to Canada would make this a much more difficult endeavour. Yet I found, in many cases, the locale, as well as the characters themselves, were so mallable that such satirical legislative hand was needed to give them purpose.

In short, there was a real chance to mock the nature of both John Hughes-inspired teen drama and the redundancy of cinematic adaptation of action-laden graphic novels. Both of these are heightened when the film never develops the love between delivery girl and evil ex-boyfriend-horder Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and unemployed apathetic bassist Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) properly, even when fighting the film’s signature evil exes. Instead a direct adaptation was chosen, one which pushes a plethora of relationships and fight sequences into a bite-size two-hour package (something even Tarantino wouldn’t dare attempt). The film seems frustrated with it’s own need to run past important facts at times; the editing Wright is often praised for now reveals the parts that should have been.

What redeems all this are three important factors. First, as alluded to, the film is very funny. It’s an acquired comedy: one only a certain generation may get. My guess is that if you know what a Tumblr is, you’ll be fine. Secondly, Wright has worked hard with his production team - especially cinematographer Bill Pope and composer Nigel Godrich - to really instill the look and feel of a video game into the movie: everything from villians bursting into coins to the 1980’s sound of a treasure chest opening when a new fact is found out makes you feel like you are playing Scott Pilgrim, not just watching him.

The last fact is that the ensemble themselves bring a whole new life to the film. Michael Cera, the indie-kid everyman of Hollywood seems apt for a role that requires a, well, indie-kid everyman. Real praise, however, goes to Keiran Culkin and Ellen Wong. Keiran is probably the closest thing the film has to Wright’s signature secondary male: Pilgrim’s gay housemate who is also the single voice of logic in his life. Wong takes on the 17 year old Knives Chau - a schoolgirl so infatuated with Scott that it borders on insanity - with such over-the-top panache that it’s endearing amongst a world of constantly cynical twenty-somethings.

So Scott Pilgrim vs The World was great. It’s definitely worth seeing and you wont leave the theatre disappointed. But it constantly feels like a missed opportunity to make a real statement and possibly one of the best cinematic parodies since Mel Brooks was still making good movies.