Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is a movie that's been making waves, partially because of its indie-comic source material, but mostly because the very first trailer indicated to just about everyone that this was going to be truly an epic movie. There is a possibility that both the marketing and the movie itself would put off certain people with its "in-your-face" indie art direction and video game nerd styled insanity, but such naysayers should know that there's more to the film than crazy.
Though there is a lot of crazy.
Scott Pilgrim is a bass player in a Canadian indie band who falls desperately in love with Ramona Flowers, a girl with an always changing hair color and a never changing exasperation. The complication is supposedly the fact that Scott has to defeat Ramona's seven evil exes in order to be with her, but this is something of a ruse. The real problem is Scott's insufficient level of maturity, as indicated by his *ahem* "forgetting" to break up with his previous girlfriend (or pretend girlfriend as she's called, in case we needed any further reminding that Scott was emotionally a four year old) before beginning to date Ramona. He's not a bad guy, and certainly not an anti hero, but his flaws really are what makes him work as a hero. He's stupid in ways we've all been, and the movie's crazy special effects and set pieces genuinely work towards making us empathize with him, rather than just declare him to be "awesome." If none of its brilliant editing, flawless effects, or charming characterization survives to teach the film school brats of the future, then one thing Scott Pilgrim must be remembered for is its peerless balance of its leads charm and flaws. To illustrate my point, there were many points in the movie where I was yelling encouragement at Mr. Pilgrim, but it was never "don't go in there," or "give him a left!;" it was "don't sit there and take that!," "tell her you love her for real!," and even "stop being a complete idiot and kill him!" Simply put, I wasn't yelling at Scott to survive, I was yelling at him to get his head out of his ass.
This notion of the film as an internal rather than external struggle raises the question of which is more relevant to the movie. Are Scott Pilgrim's action scenes representations of deep relationship struggles, Scott's battles with the league of evil exes being manifestations of his immature issues with Ramona's baggage? Or perhaps is that just pretentious drivel to satisfy the crowd that's too cool for fight scenes? The answer is both and neither. If you want to pretend it's all about spastic action and anyone who says otherwise is a poseur, the movie will back you up. If you insist that the fight scenes are an expensive way to mock people on Scott's level of maturity, then you could find enough in the film to support your argument too. If you think, as I do, that fight scenes are fun both when they represent something and when they're totally friggin awesome, then the movie will say "whatever," and welcome you with open arms as well.
The point is that Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is good. Very very good. It's better at depth than deep movies, better at spectacle than empty movies, better at love than romances, and better at being a movie than anything it's currently competing with, unless Inception is still playing at your local theatre. Then it's kind of a toss up.
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