Sunday 19 September 2010

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

By the time you read this, Edgar Wright's third film, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, will probably have vanished from UK cinemas and be heading for DVD and Blu ray. A shame because as good as the movie will be on TV, it deserves to be seen on the big screen with a great sound system.
The wafer-thin plot centres on the eponymous slacker, a musician who falls for the gorgeous delivery girl Ramona Flowers while dating a Chinese school girl called Knives.
His assorted friends spent half their time spouting ultra hip comments and the rest of the time playing in their band Sex Bob-omb.
Scott soon realises that if he wants to be with Ms Flowers, he will have to defeat her seven evil exes, which include an egocentric movie star and a vegan with special powers.
Michael Cera is great as the likeable hero; Mary Elizabeth Winstead is sublime as Ramona, and Chris Evans (not that one) steals the evil ex spotlight as the big screen hero, whose departure feels sadly under-realised.
Alas, Ramona is under the thumb of a hip agent and the eventual showdown between hero and villain decides whether Pilgrim wins the girl or winds up dejected.
As with the excellent Shaun of the Dead and the two thirds brilliant Hot Fuzz, Wright does a great job adapting this comic for the big screen. The Manga style of fighting, and obvious obsession with video games is endearing, but a little over done.
At least there are more giggles per minute than in many films of the year.
Probably best seen as a double bill with Kick Ass, SPVTW is bound to develop a cult following in the coming months.
While Cera will no doubt go on to other cool things, the real star of the show is Mary Winstead, a genuine star whose upcoming turn in The Thing prequel cannot come soon enough for one reviewer.

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