Tags
Alison Pill, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Brie Larson, Comedy, Ellen Wong, Fantasy, Johnny Simmons, Kieran Culkin, Mark Webber, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Michael Cera, Movie, Romance, Scott Pilgrim vs the World
PG-13
Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Anna Kendrick, Kieran Culkin, Ellen Wong, Mark Webber, Alison Pill, Johnny Simmons, Brie Larson, Aubrey Plaza
Stacey: Scott, was she really the one?
Scott: The what…?
Stacey: I mean, did you really see a future with this girl?
Scott: …like…with jetpacks?
Scott Pilgrim (Cera) falls instantly in love with a mysterious girl, Ramona (Winstead), that he meets at a party, but once the two begin to date, Scott discovers that he must defeat – in combat – Ramona’s seven exes.
So when did it become commonplace in movies for the geeky, loser-ish guy with no confidence to have dated, or currently be dating, multiple very attractive women? Maybe that’s part of the whole comic book/graphic novel fantasy experience, which is what this movie is based on, a graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O’Malley.
I was not at all familiar with the graphic novels before seeing the movie, so I don’t have those to compare the movie to. So, just judging the movie on it’s own merit…it was pretty good.
I probably don’t even need to bother saying that Michael Cera is playing basically the same character that he always does. Though, I will say that for some reason he’s less likable than usual here.
Which leads me to my biggest complaint about the movie. I really didn’t care much about either of the two main characters. Cera is very needy, and kind of a selfish jerk at times, and Ramona is like a rehash of Clementine Kruczynski but without the depth or likability. Why do these two people like each other? I can understand Scott being initially attracted to Ramona, but after that, neither seem to have much to talk about, and they certainly don’t seem to have much fun with each other. I think more chemistry between the two would have lent more weight to Scott’s battle for Ramona. As it is, I was wondering why he’d want to even go through the trouble of fighting for her.
On the bright side, there are quite a few funny moments, and a lot of good cameo appearances by actors that get to have fun with their roles. I especially liked the inclusion of one of Michael Cera’s Arrested Development castmates as one of Ramona’s exes.
The overly stylized approach taken by director Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) wore me down a little bit by the end, but that might have had more to do with the repetitiveness of the fight scenes rather than the fast paced editing. It mostly works, but the movie felt overlong. Plus, the ending was a bit disappointing. I thought the narrative lost its way a little and got bogged down in a lot of confusing dialogue.
Still, overall it’s a fairly entertaining experience. I just wish as much time was spent on character development as was spent on editing and special effects.
Also Michael Cera’s hair looked weird.
Your past shouldn’t control your present…?
10 – 1.5 for lack of character development – .5 for a bit too much stylization – .5 for a weak ending = 7.5