Director:
Edgar Wright
Writers:
Michael Bacall, Edgar Wright
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Once upon a time being called a geek would make you an outcast of the society and you would be ridiculed by those "cool" guys from the school and in general. In these last few years or so we are witnessing a dramatic reversal in these events. Suddenly being a geek has become a desirable trait. This has, of course, had an impact on the popular culture.
Plot story: Scott has to defeat seven evil exes of the girl of his dreams. Yap, the story is that simple.
The very beginning of this movie is so original and something you have never seen before. That's hard to achieve when we see all kind of movies that successfully or less successfully try hard to be different and innovative. Opening scene uses the classic Universal music intro played as 2D video game tune (which elicited a smile on our faces having a flashback of video games we played as kids such as Mario Bros, Contra, Mortal Kombat etc.). Every next scene is unbelievably dynamic because of innovation and diversity. If you are keen on new, fresh and unseen before visual style, you will appreciate this one at least for that reason alone.
Edgar Wright is very clearly using it as an ace in his sleeve which is good because we were overblown and impressed by the huge palette of visual effects mostly based on video games and comics. Since the movie is based on a, not so well known, Canadian comic book it is full of CGI effects depicting various situations in a way a comic book would. There are lots of fast scene transitions that include clever and witty dialogues that start in one location just to, suddenly, be continued in another.
The script is very witty and refreshingly deprived of "bathroom" humor. Speaking of acting, Michael Cera, Ellen Wong, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Kieran Culkin all did a great job delivering what they were supposed to. Regarding the actors one can't go without noticing that Michael Cera again delivered the exact same performance he gave in his every single movie. That might be a problem in his future career (we are not sure if he is a chameleon), but again this time his goofy charm adapted perfectly to this role. He is always this laid back, insecure, slow talking, lost in space kind of a guy. It's not as though we are expecting him to suddenly become an action hero like Bruce Willis, but it would be refreshing to see him try some different roles. Oh yes, and occasional change in facial expression would be nice.
Scott Pilgrim is a big baby, clumsy in a cute way while radiating with innocence. We feel and see his low self-esteem when he is worrying about his hair cut, but saying out loud his every thought. Just as kids do. He is in love with total opposition - girl named Ramona with questioning past behind her. In order to save her from the haunting past he has to fight against her seven exes (just as we said in the plot story). Scott is very clumsy in those fights against them, but still manages to look adorable.
The movie mostly consists of fighting scenes in Tekken 3, Street Fighter, etc. style which was a big no no to us since we are not really into stuff like that. It was somehow bearable for the first two exes because of witty lines (Indian dance in the middle of the fight) and impressive special effects, but the rest of the movie was literally drowned in it making it almost boring and exhausting while approaching the end. Despite of all mentioned innovations and quick pacing, the movie managed to be overlong and repetitive because of many scenes of that type. Instead of so many action scenes the movie would have benefited out of a more in depth character presentation.
This IS a romantic movie portraying young, insecure and naive love with young protagonists.
This IS NOT a typical romantic teen movie - far cry from that. Though on a higher level of an intelligence (yes you have to use gray cells at times) it has that Youth in Revolt, Role Models or I Love You, Beth Cooper atmosphere just as we were afraid of. This one is a bit better because it can be taken as a kind of a teenage version of Sin City.
We are sure that any video game geek would enjoy this one as much as a kid would enjoy getting a new toy, though they might not be able to relate with Scott because he is actually dating girls and has a life.
No offense to geeks :).
No offense to geeks :).
If you are not expecting much of a story, like arcade video games and want to be amused by light and intelligent humor in excessive levels then this is a perfect movie for you. Those who seek for romance will be less happy because it's masked by plenty of metaphors. We don't recommend this to an older audience.
Not much more to say then give it a try if you found yourself in the targeted audience.
Review over.
Our score:
Liz: 6/10
Kyle: 6.5/10
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