Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

When I watch a movie, first and foremost, I want to be entertained.  A movie doesn’t have to be a great movie for people to like it; it just has to be entertaining in some way.  Sometimes I feel movie critics, in general, lose sight of this fact. 

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is an entertaining film.  It didn’t win any prestigious mantle decorations but it was a lot of fun.  In an era in which unoriginality is the norm, this film attacks the genre of romantic comedies in a refreshing way.  I must warn that not everyone will appreciate this 2010 offering from director Edgar Wright, who also helmed offbeat originals Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead.  Just like those previous efforts, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World pushes the weirdness factor without going too far.  A lot of the general strangeness works and I found myself guffawing out loud throughout the movie.

Michael Cera is our hero and he once again plays the sweet but slightly bewildered, tread upon, anxious soul that is his trademark.  Cera seems to be a one trick pony, character-wise, but he can still play that pony well.  I wonder how many more of these roles he will play before his sweetness grows old.  Sorry, I digress.  As the title character, Cera must do battle with the many exes of the girl of his dreams.  In short, he must deal with her emotional baggage, and his, before he can win her heart.  Mary Elizabeth Winstead is the girl and, in fact, shares little chemistry with Cera.  To be honest, the chemistry isn’t necessarily important in this film, which is unusual to most rom-coms.

What is important about this movie is its presentation.  There are a lot of things going on visually and it really holds one’s attention.  There are numerous pop culture references throughout the film and it was fun to try to catch them all.  I’m sure I didn’t but there were plenty I did get.  The pace stayed brisk and I never got bored.  This movie would have been just another crappy rom-com without all the weirdness going on.  The storyline was nothing special but Wright kept it fun and original and, in the end, it was a much better movie because of it.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World didn’t win any hardware but it doesn’t matter.  Watch this movie just for the fun of it and be glad it isn’t just another average, boring romantic comedy.  Life is too short not to watch movies sometimes just for the sheer fun of it.

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