To be a Pilgrim...

Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Starring: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Edgar Wright
Rating: 4 (out of 5)

Summary: 22 year old, school girl dating, bass playing Scott Pilgrim falls in love with the mysterious and alluring Ramona Flowers. Unfortunately for him however she has seven evil exes who he must do battle with in order to win her heart...

Edgar Wright's distinctive crash bang visceral style meets it's ideological and visual soul partner with the adaptation of graphic novelettes Scott Pilgrim. They compliment each other perfectly as Wright takes his cue from the computer game visuals of many a Street Fighter and Donkey Kong, with 1ups and coins aplenty, and fills the screen with easily accessible comedy and romance.

Let's get this straight though, if you think Scott Pilgrim will be the film that makes the cult mainstream you would be wrong, it plays to the geek crowd like William Shatner fan dancing in a storm trooper outfit and doesn't compromise it's outsider sensibilities to be easily digestible fodder for the masses. Just like those who worship the pixilated ground Super Mario walks on, Michael Cera as Scott isn't witty, physically strong or verbose but is a daydreamer forever living in his own id and taking a physical and mental pounding because of his love for Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) - who herself is the pinnacle of the anti-heroine.

The supporting cast is a who's who of up and coming Hollywood talent. Recently Oscar-nominated Anna Kendrick as Scott's sister is the stand out. After my initial reservations about her in the Twilight series, she is starting to be cast in films that really show her undoubted talent. Kieran Culkin as Scott's gay housemate Wallace reaches the nadir of snippy sarcasm which was bearing fruit as early as Igby Goes Down and shaggy ginger drummer Kim (Alison Pill) is as scary as any ex whilst aggressively smashing away.

Where Scott Pilgrim vs The World really earns its full health bar and invincible stars though are the hyperactive fight scenes. Filled with a rich, sugar enthused vein of pop rocking explosions and kung fu, each fight has its own distinctive style and fighter powers. Superman Brandon Routh as Vegan rocker and ex number four Todd Ingram especially revels in the pantomime villainy of the occasion whilst Edgar Wright punctuates each face off with all the "Zaps" and "Pows" of a nostalgic Adam West giving the occasion its grounding in the hyper real.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World is fun. Fun with a capital F. This is how you should approach comic book adaptations, with a real love and understanding of the original. Edgar Wright has taken the source material and rolled in it like a pig in the pop proverbial and provided a wet dream inducing mega film for the socially awkward gamer in all of us.

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