Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Edgar Wright is the director that brought us the amazing films Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, so the question is, what happens when he gets Hollywood money to make a film? The answer is a really good movie that is over the top in an entirely different way.

The thing that hits you right away about Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is the graphics. The movie is based on a graphic novel by Bryan Lee O'Malley and many of those graphic elements are animated into the movie, so, the fight scenes have "thwacks!" and "Oooffs" and when people kiss animated hearts come out of their mouths. This would be disconcerting if I hadn't heard an interview with the director about how he wanted to take everything to the extreme. And he does take everything to the extreme.

The basic premise is that Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a 20-something looser living in a very small apartment with a roommate that owns everything in it. He falls in love with Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and to keep her, he has to defeat her seven evil exes. These encounters become more and more perilous and Scott Pilgrim's life gets pretty complicated. The fight scenes are pure fantasy and can be jarring. Wright suggests we think of them as songs in a musical, but instead of breaking into song the characters break into video game like fight sequences.

Normally I wouldn't enjoy this kind of movie, but with a little warning of what I was getting into I was able to enjoy it a lot more. It is a funny and entertaining farce.