Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
This big screen version of Bryan Lee O’Malley‘s slacker-centric graphic novel might be the best comic book/videogame/kung-fu/adult manga adaptation ever made. Pilgrim, played by Michael Cera like a puppy dog in a duffel coat, is a bed-headed bass-player who falls hard for the frosty, blue-haired Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). To win her heart, however, he must defeat her seven evil exes. Each bristles with more super-powered hoodoo than a Wii console made of Kryptonite. With each victory, he moves up a level in Ramona’s affections, but his band Sex Bomb-omb struggle for recognition from Toronto’s hipster class. Director Edgar Wright jumps to the film from cult comedies Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. He’s evidently having fun messing around in the Hollywood sandbox. Pilgrim is choc-a-block with split screens, quirky graphics and funny cameos from the likes of Chris Evans, Brandon Routh and the lady who played Cera’s girlfriend in Arrested Development. On the sidelines, Kieran Culkin breathes fresh life into the tired stock character of the gay b’s abrasive punk songs. A cult in the making, this is the Panzer Dragoon Saga of contemporary fauxhemian comedy.
Extras: The standard DVD features the usual array of deleted scenes, bloopers, commentary from the always erudite Wright. The Blu-Ray includes re-edited sequences, documentaries, production diaries and the Adult Swim cartoon Scott Pilgrim vs. The Animation.
- By C. Bottomley
