Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is the definitive comedy so far for 2010, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
We open up in the suburbs of Toronto, Canada (believe me the place erupted when that opening was announced) and we’re immediately introduced to most of our lead cast; Michael Cera is the titular Scott, that cute chick from Twilight who the vampires/werewolves/zombies/mummies etc should have been going after plays his sister, and a smattering of other young talent rounds out the cast as Scott’s band, housemate and the like.
The characters right away are all defined in “so funny it’s true” pop culture roles; there’s the talented musician, the bitter old girlfriend, the bitchy chick with issues who seems to work everywhere and so much more. Every character is unique but not overdone so that they stick out too glaringly; Cera’s films usually revolve around extreme average-ness and finally it got nailed right on the head in this film since no character was constantly stealing the spotlight, minus the intentionally stand-out Ramona, but they all still managed to stand out in their own way. This was a young cast but don’t think for a second that means they were a poor cast, this film brought some of the most likeable screen-presences I’ve seen all year as each role was played just right.
The story is like your typical “boy meets girl” kind of trip, but it ramps it up as the boy doesn’t spend all movie trying to win the girl, rather he spends it trying to fend off what he’s gotten himself into as while Scott finds himself falling more and more head over heels for the foxy Ramona, it’s not a matter of winning her heart but instead trying to not get himself killed by a myriad of hilarious character types that round up Ramona’s League of Evil Exes. At times it does feel a tad bit rushed as Ramona seems to open up to the bumbling Scott a little to easily, but we didn’t pay to see an evolving love story, we paid to see hilarity and over the top battles.
And holy crap the battles are wicked! None of the cliched “rising to meet the challenge” stories here (though a training montage set to You’re The Best Around is always smiled upon), right away in Scott’s very first fight the action is awesome and choreographed like something we’d see Jet Li starring in. The battles are still kept light-hearted and fun as the sight gags and “what the eff?!” moments make even these incredible action sequences able to roll out the laughs; mini spoiler: there’s one battle where an evil ex is staring down Scott through a huge hole in a brick wall, to approach Scott you’d expect him to just walk through the hole, but he doesn’t, and the way he does come in to the next area literally made everyone in the theatre laugh while loudly asking “what?!”
The music, in my opinion, is brilliantly done. There’s a great blend of multiple genres, but the side story does focus on Scott’s band, a Tokyo Police Club style indie band, and they emulate that Toronto indie sound flawlessly; the team that made the original songs for this film certainly did their homework on the Toronto indie scene, and while this may be a detail lost on viewers outside of Toronto it’s a totally welcome addition to the audience of Toronto and the surrounding area.
One thing this movie is going to be known for is its excessive pop culture references. This movie is clearly intended for an audience of roughly 15-40, anyone younger or older than that may either think the references aren’t that funny, or they just might not get them; the video game references alone can be a potential turn off to some viewers as they come fast and furious, some subtle, some not so much. An issue with so many gaming references is that, while a long term gamer will catch most to all of them and appreciate them, some may not, this is not crippling though as the very in-your-face game references are quite universal, and the obscure ones are often subtle enough that they just may not be registered to some; plus it’s also a lot of fun to play “what game was that sound from?” and the enemies turning into coins after their defeat was a brilliant homage to one of my favourite NES titles, River City Ransom. A lot of the gaming jokes are targeted at the SNES/Sega Genesis generation, but they’re still handled well enough to be enjoyed by most. The music references are also terrific, as many times Scott would be wearing a shirt of a band I loved in high school, and in some cases shirts I even owned myself (I miss my old Zero shirt), and it was a cool touch; but the most shirt-inspired laughs will come in one scene where Scott’s wearing a shirt emblazened with a normally unfunny epidemic that plagued Toronto a few years back, but it’s such a random reference that people couldn’t help laughing.
Most importantly are the jokes. The gags vary wonderfully from the obvious groaners to the off-the-wall and unexpected. With verbal jokes, sound effect jokes, sight gags and everything in between, this movie pulled no punches on making jokes, but what makes it stand out from most comedic attempts this year is that the jokes, to my recollection, all hit the nail on the head, and I’m sure I missed a few due to laughing through follow-up gags. Even a few character-references are made to round the humour out, as one of the evil exes has a personality who was clearly heavily influenced by Ben Stiller, and as he makes comments one would picture from Stiller himself, the other characters all exchange looks as if to say “was that meant to be funny?” or “how can he take himself seriously?” it’s just great.
Downsides are few and far between. This movie, I fear, will not age well, as it’s specifically geared towards this generation, so as time marches on the jokes will lose their edge, but this is a perfect addition to the libraries of anyone of this current generation and will provide a lot of nostalgia down the road. As I previously said the video game references heavily dominated this film, and I could see it being a mild turn-off to some viewers… I could also grasp at straws and say I can’t stand bassists who play pick-style, but that’s a stretch.
All in all, congrats Michael Cera, you have finally made me laugh, and repeatedly! His quest to find that just-right blend of average but still entertaining reached its pinnacle in this film and he dished out what was, in my opinion, his best performance in his young career.
Really and truly, see this movie; this is the comedy we have needed in 2010. It’s funny, it’s clever, it’s witty and sarcastic and beautifully mixes the everyday norm with the fantastic and ridiculous… and they didn’t make it in 3D even though they really could have probably gotten away with it, big plus there.