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Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
Aug. 19th, 2010 08:41 amSaw this with Denys at the Cinerama last night. This is a geek paradise, innit? Funny, sarcastic, smart, ironic, sincere, and a visually inventive evocation of the worlds of the comic book and the video game. It's the story of a 22-year-old Toronto slacker who falls for a transplanted New York goth girl. He has to fight her Seven Evil Exes to win her love. I laughed a lot. The verbal jokes are really good, and the visual style is lively and wonderfully anti-realist. Not really surreal, but free to move in any direction it wants and to communicate in a variety of ways, mixing animation, CGI, and in-camera tricks with abandon.
Now, the story it tells is a very traditional boy-meets-girl story that isn't as interesting as the verbal and visual stylization. In fact, I think the biggest weakness of the story is Ramona, the love interest. The actress does a good job of making her alluring, intelligent, and vulnerable, but the character really only exists to be Scott's love interest. I'll confess that in the complex ending, which goes through a couple of cycles of resolution, I was hoping the movie would defy convention and have Scott choose his sardonic old drummer girlfriend over the other options. I'm also curious whether the movie, which is full of smart, funny, kick-ass female characters (Ramona, Knives, Kim, Scott's sister, and the foul-mouthed Julie), actually passes the Bechdel Test.
But the wit and the energy of the film compensate for the conventional aspects. A party of a film, full of youthful piss and vinegar. I immediately wondered what my nephews would think of it.
Now, the story it tells is a very traditional boy-meets-girl story that isn't as interesting as the verbal and visual stylization. In fact, I think the biggest weakness of the story is Ramona, the love interest. The actress does a good job of making her alluring, intelligent, and vulnerable, but the character really only exists to be Scott's love interest. I'll confess that in the complex ending, which goes through a couple of cycles of resolution, I was hoping the movie would defy convention and have Scott choose his sardonic old drummer girlfriend over the other options. I'm also curious whether the movie, which is full of smart, funny, kick-ass female characters (Ramona, Knives, Kim, Scott's sister, and the foul-mouthed Julie), actually passes the Bechdel Test.
But the wit and the energy of the film compensate for the conventional aspects. A party of a film, full of youthful piss and vinegar. I immediately wondered what my nephews would think of it.
