Scott Pilgrim Vs The World

Edgar Wright's new film is his first one that takes a very conscious step away from his British roots and toward the Atlantic. Scott Pilgrim is not a Hollywood film, though its main actors are American. In fact it takes a great deal of effort to align itself with Canada by being based in Toronto and including many references to the boom in films made in Canada ("They make films in Vancouver"). This focus on Canada might perhaps be an indirect way of informing us the last thing we will be watching is a formulaic slice of Hollywood. Perhaps it is also a way for Wright to indicate the last thing he intends on doing with Scott Pilgrim Vs The World is selling out (to use a cliché) while watering down his individual talent. In fact Scott Pilgrim Vs The World shows Wright developing his talent. Where his first two films, for all the merit, felt like continuations on a theme in a Spaced world Scott Pilgrim feels like a complete fresh approach from the director. Deciding to break away from Simon Pegg and company for the new film and adopt Michael Cera and company in their place pays great dividends, showing that Edgar Wright is much more than a mere collaborator for Pegg. We can all look forward to the final part of what is termed by Pegg, Wright and others as the Ice Cream Trilogy. The, perhaps surprising, news is that Scott Pilgrim Vs The World is better than Hot Fuzz and Shaun of The Dead. In fact Scott Pilgrim is one of the very best films we have had this year and certainly one of the most unique.

Michael Cera has never been better and fills the title role with charm, confidence and vulnerability, not an easy combination it should be noted. Kieran Culkin is also a revelation taking on the role of Pilgrims gay flat mate with gusto and he goes well beyond in showing that his starring role in 2002's excellent Igby Goes Down was no fluke. Is it just me or does Culkin look exactly like I imagine Holden Caulfield to look like were he real (minus the grey silvery patch of hair)? Acting aside the source of real merit in the film comes from the two main areas. The script adapted from the comic book, which I cannot say I have read, is witty and clever without being smug or indulgent and genuinely touching without being reductive or sentimental. There is more than a touch of the old Spaced humour present, I found it to be most welcome and it feels somehow incredibly fresh when executed by this young troupe of actors. It manages to weave together a type of hyper unreality and mundane reality to great effect while still faithfully managing to suspend belief in the narrative. Of course all this work on a great script with some sharp one liners would be wasted if the film making went on to be a mess. To be honest this is what I feared about Scott Pilgrim Vs The World the most, that it would be a self indulgent mess with a director at the helm keen to show his colours to the audience, kind of an over eager peacock syndrome. Tim Burton engaged in this to detrimental effect with his misjudged remake of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, the song set pieces with abundant CGI proving conclusively that more is not necessarily better. Tarantino fell victim to this peacock syndrome as well with the absurdly bloated Kill Bill which seemed so concerned with style that the rizla thin narrative seemed to just blow away. One of the few to succeed in using highly stylized film making to the advantage of the narrative was Darren Aronofsky with the traumatic Requiem For A Dream. Then Aronofsky went and fell victim to peacock syndrome with The Fountain before ultimately regaining his footing with the sparse The Wrestler. Scott Pilgrim is a world away from the work of Aronofsky of course, it never takes itself terribly seriously but this is one of the reasons the film is so successful. That painstaking work has gone into post production, right down to the editing which uses a vast array of styles to draw us emotionally in is clear. Part of what makes this work so successful and seamless is that Pilgrim is a film with music at its very heart and good music it is too. Nigel Godrich is the producer of all original music and the genre hopping Beck is behind many of the original songs. From the title sequence onwards we are led into an intriguing world that mixes music with video games / video game culture along with a romance that never feels contrived. The romance is also never idealized, tempered with a kind of Woody Allen neurosis and balanced with comedy which disdains the easy laugh. It will prove to be too much for some of the young audience it is aimed toward, not a film that you can go to and actively switch your brain off, letting the film do all the predictable work. For those that give undivided attention though it will more than reward. It is a bold piece of work by Edgar Wright which as a comic book film compares most closely to The Watchmen but then proceeds to better it in every single way - which is no mean feat. Who would have thought that Edgar Wright after Hot Fuzz would be presiding over a film that is not only progressive in the literal sense but also takes delight in smartly smashing conventions with aplomb. It also stands alone as a film which instead of adapting video game culture incorporates it thereby creating a new beast which is as elegant as it is purely entertaining. In short a real unmitigated treat which in all its sheer joy and effervescence is very hard to resist. Can be seen to be running laps around the clever but po faced critical darling Inception - which I only mention in passing to emphasize what a superior piece of cinema we are dealing with.