3.5/4 stars
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a movie that defies analysis. As a teenage male power fantasy it lacks serious commentary on power fantasies and, indeed, gives them full expression as something real and legitimate. The world Scott Pilgrim inhabits doesn’t separate adolescent wish fulfillment from reality. Instead, for two hours we are treated to the notion that they are reality. Like True Romance (an admittedly more subtle film) Scott Pilgrim is a boy’s daydream.
When we first meet Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) he is an unemployed 22 year old guitar player who announces to his bandmates that he has a new girlfriend. Her name is Knives Chau (Ellen Wong) and she is a 17 year old high schooler who worships the ground he walks on. His friends make a bit of a fuss over the age gap, suggesting there is something immature in his choices. This is certainly true enough, but more than being immature the relationship touches on a number of ethical grey areas that apparently in 2010 were less scandalous than they are now. Moving on from that, the girl is supportive and enthusiastic for Scott’s musical career. She treats him with complete deference, despite his unobtrusive personality and shy geekiness.
Scott lives in an old bunker-turned-apartment and shares his bed with his gay roommate, Wallace (Kieran Culkin) who disapproves of the relationship. Neither does Scott’s sister Stacey (Anna Kendrick) who pops in and out of the film to give him grief over his life choices. To Scott’s chagrin Wallace always tells her everything about his activities, letting her know as soon as he does. In one surreal and very funny scene Wallace manages somehow to give her the latest dirt even though he is fast asleep at the time. Moments like this are common throughout the movie. It reminds me a bit of a Family Guy episode where the surreal moments pass by with no comment or lasting consequences.
Scott later meets an older girl named Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), an offbeat, pink-haired alt girl whom he swears he saw in a dream before. He becomes infatuated with her and pesters her to go out with him, even though he is already in a relationship with Knives. Scott has all the cowardly insecurities of a teenager with low self-esteem and the self-destructive behaviors to match. Like a lot of young men in his predicament Ramona’s complicated sexual history intimidates him. He feels uncertain that he can measure up to her previous partners, all of them jerks of course, while he lives out the common incel myth of being a “nice guy.”
Ramona’s exes have formed a League of Evil Exes whom, according to Ramona, Scott needs to fight if he wants to date her. They are seven in total, all larger than life and highly ridiculous. They range from a boorish action movie star (Chris Evans) to a vegan with super powers (Brandon Routh). The fights are fanciful, super-heroical epic battles heavily annotated with CGI, arcade score counters, and video game prompts a la Mortal Kombat. At first, one could be forgiven for assuming these fights are all in Scott’s head. His scrawny frame implausibly comes out on top every time while his defeated foes disintegrate into coin tokens. And let’s not forget to mention the mass amount of property damage incurred by people being thrown through brick walls and ceilings being ripped off with super strength. But, the results appear to last and his onlooking friends accept the events as if they are really happening.
The “final boss” of the whole affair, Gideon Graves (Jason Schwartzman), who bears a striking resemblance to Marge’s ex-boyfriend from The Simpsons, manages to steal Ramona away from him. This final fight brings Scott face to face with the facts of his infidelity, but not the harsh realities or consequences of it.
The entire film dwells squarely within the realm of teenage male fantasy. Never does Scott Pilgrim find himself forced to wake from it or deal with how life truly is. There are only a few things that clue us in that there is a harsh reality beneath the surface glitter at all. For one, Scott never succeeds in having sex with Ramona and there’s an arm’s length’s distance between the two of them at all times that the fact that they are dating desperately tries to deny. If there is anything to be picked out of the film thematically it is the psychological inner workings of a young virgin male trying to cope with his girlfriend’s sexual experience. What Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is, is a cinematic recreation of what such a young man imagines he wants. It’s juvenile romantic fantasy on full unadulterated display. It never breaks from character by pulling back the curtain and exposing Scott’s insecurities and incel-like mentality. That is the real Scott behind the fantasy. But we are not shown what is behind the fantasy. We are just shown the fantasy itself.
In the end, how Scott Pilgrim is analysed as a character depends upon the maturity of the viewer. The vision of his daydreams are artfully created by cinematography built upon the backs of video games, arcade machines, and comic books. These things are what are at the forefront of his childish mind. What we get out of the mix is a clever, self-aware comedy that is visually appealing and entertaining. The lack of consequences for Scott’s bad behavior may grate against some viewers, and I can understand perfectly if they should feel that way. But, for myself, the movie is not a condoning of his behavior. What Scott Pilgrim vs. the World aims to do is give his fantasies a breath of fresh air. If the exposure is distasteful, perhaps that is what the film is supposed to convey. The movie is ridiculous and unglued from reality. And maybe that is how these sorts of fantasies are supposed to look.
Director: Edgar Wright
Writers: Michael Bacall, Edgar Wright
Producers: Eric Gitter, Nira Park, Marc Platt, Edgar Wright, J. Miles Dale, Jared LeBoff, Adam Siegel, Ronaldo Vasconcellos, Lisa Gitter, Joe Nozemack, Steven V. Scavelli
Cast: Michael Cera (Scott Pilgrim), Kieran Culkin (Wallace Wells), Anna Kendrick (Stacey Pilgrim), Alison Pill (Kim Pine), Aubrey Plaza (Julie Powers), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Ramona Flowers), Jason Schwartzman (Gideon Graves), Johnny Simmons (Young Neil), Mark Webber (Stephen Stills), Ellen Wong (Knives Chau), Satya Bhabha (Matthew Patel), Keita Saito (Kyle Katayanagi), Kjartan Hewitt (Jimmy), Nelson Franklin (Comeau), Kristina Pesic (Sandra), Ingrid Haas (Monique), Chris Evans (Lucas Lee), Chantelle Chung (Tamara Chen), Brie Larson (Envy Larson), Mae Whitman (Roxy Richter), Brandon Routh (Todd Ingram), Shota Saito (Ken Katayanagi), Bill Hader (The Voice)
Composer: Nigel Godrich
Cinematographer: Bill Pope
Editors: Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss
Perspectives on Film 