Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), PG-13, 112 minutes - Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is Edgar Wright's (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) film adaptation of Bryan Lee O'Malley's series of manga sized graphic novels (Oni Press). A couple of friends have been ranting and raving about the Scott Pilgrim books for a couple years but I had never read them myself until about two weeks ago. I highly recommend them (buy them here). Should you be any interested, I strongly encourage you to read them all (6 total) before seeing the movie as it covers the entire story. I know, I know, it sounds like a lot, but trust me - these bad boys read very quickly. I was able to knock each one out in about an hour and I'm not a very speedy reader.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way - Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is an absolutely fantastic adaptation of the source material. The film clocks in at just under two hours and covers all of the key points throughout the graphic novels. The trailer below does an excellent job of giving you the basic plot line so I won't waste time babbling about it here. The movie portrays Scott Pilgrim's life as though it were a video game/comic book just as it was in the graphic novels. And it wastes no time doing so as the Universal logo pops up all pixelated with classic 8-bit music right from the get-go (taking anyone my age back to the days when we'd waste all day playing Super Mario Bros. or Tecmo Super Bowl).

Michael Cera leads a fairly large cast as the titular character and Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays Ramona, the source of all of Scott's boss battle problems. There are great cameo appearances by Anna Kendrick (Scott's sister Stacey), Chris Evans and Brandon Routh (Evil Exes), and even Thomas Jane and Clifton Collins, Jr. (the Vegan Police). Jason Schwartzman brings Gideon Gordon Graves to life (Scott's personal King Koopa) and Kieran Culkin really fits the part of Scott's gay roommate Wallace Wells.

I have just one minor complaint, and that is of the diminished role of Kim Pine (Alison Pill) in the movie as opposed to the graphic novels. I honestly have a hard time even mentioning that because the rest of the movie is so well done. Anyone who has read Bryan Lee O'Malley's works will love what Edgar Wright put together for the big screen. The story is fun, something that many people can relate to on some level, and visually entertaining so I'd say it's definitely worth a look-see for those of you who aren't video game/comic nerds. If you grew up in the days of 8-bit Nintendo or reading comics you'll definitely come across something that you appreciate while watching the 'epic of epic epicness' that is Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

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