Michael Cera, every one's favorite slacker (Juno, Year One, Super Bad), stars as Scott Pilgrim- a lovable loser in his twenties, with no job and no prospects. He shares a small apartment with his gay roomie, Wallace Wells; played by the hilarious Kieran Culkin (this is hands down my favorite role of his yet). Scott spends his afternoons playing Ninja Ninja Revolution (a version of DDR) and hanging out at the Good Will store with his high-school aged girl friend, Knives Chau- In the evenings, he's practicing with his garage band 'The Sex Bob-ombs' (Cera has played guitar for real in many of his movies- he's an excellent musician).
Chaos ensues when he meets and falls for, the magenta haired Ramona Flowers. She's the outsider with baggage, looking to escape her past with a sweet boy like Scott. Little does he suspect, that Ramona has seven evil exes that haunt her past and present- threatening to knock our anti-hero into oblivion.
The cast absolutely makes this film- and it's not just our leads. Cera is terrific, don't get me wrong- but I really see him as a one trick pony- he's a great slacker- but I don't see him playing any other more challenging roles. We, the audience, clearly see his shortcomings, but are endeared to him anyway-Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who plays Ramona, has a lot to offer as an actress... but not specifically this part- she's flat and cold, and I often find myself wondering: why is he still chasing this girl? However, if you want a likable character- there's a slew of them amongst Pilgrims friends and cohorts. Knives Chau, played by Ellen Wong is adorable. I just want to put her in my pocket and feed her M&Ms. For those of us who don't have a taste for emotional subtleties-Wong wears every emotion on her sleeve. She does the giddy/ heart broken school girl so well, I don't think any other actress could have done it justice. Plus, she kicks butt at the end when she fights Ramona for Scott at the Chaos Theatre. Cute fact- that adorably embarrassing homemade tshirt she wears in the battle of the bands scene, was actually made by Ellen Wong. :)
Let me again reiterate how AMAZING Kieran Culkin was as Wallace Wells- he cares deeply for Scott, and the two characters play off of each other like the male version of the Gilmore Girls. Of course, most of their conversations are less than PC- but let's face it; that's half of what makes Wallace so lovable.
Jason Schwartzman plays Giddeon (G-man) Graves, a music producer who rules the league of Evil Exes, controlling the future of Ramona's love life- when all he actually wants is to win her back by chasing off any prospects. His character is not only cynical- he's likable, in a very odd way. I found myself wanting to know and party with these people. The cast makes the film so strangely believable, that it doesn't even seem out of place when Scott gets attacked by a series of ex boyfriends, who can fly, conjure dancing girls and produce serpents made of electricity...
The visual effects are the other half of what makes this film worth watching. Comic book 'Ka-pows' and floating hearts, video game stat bars and sound bursts fill the other wise empty area surrounding the characters. It is truly awesome- especially for those of us who really are drawn to the details. These effects are the direct result of Scott Pilgrims' origins as a Graphic Novel (cough* comic book* cough), written by Brian Lee O'Malley. Has been described as 'a hybrid manga: part romance, part video game". In short- it's awesome, and you should get your hands on it. Director Edgar Wright, who did Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, pulled all of the subtle comedy elements out of the novel and put them right in your face- so you couldn't possibly miss them. Bravo Mr. Wright- Bravo.
So let's recap: Awesome and Lovable Cast- Fantastic Music (I bought the sound track)- Great Visuals, and you can watch it even if you have the attention span of a cucumber. And girls- if you're seriously disinterested in everything above I've listed- then see it with your geeky guy friends; I'm sure they'd be thrilled.
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