Take Them On, On Your Own

In a rare show of getting with the modern world, I finally made use of the Blu-Ray player in my Playstation 3 and rented Scott Pilgrim Vs The World. Though it should be pointed out I only did this because the rental place bribed me for my custom by offering five rentals for £5.

No matter. Based on the comic book series of a young Canadian bassist who must defeat seven evil exes to win the heart of the ever-hair-colour-changing Ramona, the film was directed by Edgar Wright, whose work I've never really taken to, though it seems everyone else loves one of either Spaced, Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz. In any case, Scott's mission (of sorts) is the cue for a lot of fights involving weird powers that are never really explained, bar one ex who gains his psychic powers from being a vegan.

Adaptations of the less well-known comic books (i.e. those not from Marvel or DC) often seem to do better, perhaps due to the wider public not being as familiar with the source material. Pretty much everybody, for instance, knows who Spider-Man and Superman are. Pilgrim's adventures, until this film, I would expect were limited to a far smaller audience meaning casual observers such as myself have far less expectations of how the characters should behave or look.

Matters are also helped by a tight script by Wright and Michael Bacall and some fine acting by Michael Cera as Scott, though he's overshadowed at points by Kieran Culkin as Pilgrim's friend Wallace, who manages to keep a calm and detached perspective on odd events as well as enjoying a growing number of men in his bed.

Given this is a film about a guy who plays in a band, music features heavily and Scott's band Sex Bob-omb play songs written for them by Beck, which are all fine although all sounding a little bit the same. Stronger are the visuals, which take many cues from old-school arcade games, especially the well-shot fight scenes.

From what I gather, Scott Pilgrim vs the World didn't make a whole load of money, so a sequel may be unlikely. A good thing, I reckon, as it stands alone as good story worth seeing, with some fine acting, plenty of good tunes and more than enough moments to make you chuckle.