Tagline:
Get the hot girl. Defeat her evil exes. Hit love where it hurts.

Wide Release Date:
August 13, 2010

Directed by:
Edgar Wright
Screenplay by:
Michael Bacall, Edgar Wright
Based on the graphic novels by:
Bryan Lee O’Malley
Produced by:
Eric Gitter, Nira Park, Marc Platt, Edgar Wright

Starring:
Michael Cera
Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Kieran Culkin
Chris Evans
Anna Kendrick
Alison Pill
Brandon Routh
Jason Schwartzman

PREGAME THOUGHTS

I saw this movie once already. It was a year after it was released and I was three weeks away from moving to Chicago. I remember liking it, but my anxiety-pickled brain quickly blocked out almost everything about this movie other than 1) Mary Elizabeth Winstead is pretty, and 2) Ann from Arrested Development fights George Michael from Arrested Development.

Twelve years later, it deserves another watch.

THE 300(ish)-WORD SYNOPSIS

Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), a guy in his early 20s, is the bassist in a garage band with his friends (and an ex- Kim (Alison Pill)) called Sex Bob-Omb. He’s dating a high school student named Knives Chau (Ellen Wong), who is profoundly obsessed with him. Known to break hearts, Scott is advised by his friends, his roommate Wallace (Kieran Culkin), and his sister Stacey (Anna Kendrick) to cut if off now before it gets bad. He doesn’t.

Scott sees Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) in a dream, and that morning she delivers a package to his address. He becomes infatuated and spends his time pursuing her while, technically, still in a relationship with Knives Chau.

Two women fighting over George Michael? What, is he funny or something?…

During a battle of the bands event, Scott is suddenly attacked by one of Ramona’s exes, Matthew Patel. He defeats him à la Mortal Kombat and learns that he needs to defeat “seven evil exes” in order to date Ramona. He was the first. Actor Lucas Lee (Chris Evans) is the second. Vegan Todd Ingram (Brandon Routh) is the third. Confirmed lesbian Roxy Richter (Mae Whitman) is the fourth. Twins Kyle Katayanagi and Ken Katayanagi (who cares) are the fifth and sixth. Gideon Graves (Jason Schwartzman) is the Final Boss.

Along the way, Scott does break up with Knives and she doesn’t take it well. Scott confronts his own ex-girlfriend Envy Adams (Brie Larson). After a few fights, Ramona gets back together with Gideon because “there’s something about him” and that’s true in real life because Schwartzman once dated Selma Blair and Zooey Deschanel and I’ll hate him forever for that. Eventually, the showdown between Scott and Gideon takes place to win Ramona back. Scott uses the power of love and loses, but he has an extra life to use to try again. This time, after apologizing to both Knives and Ramona for cheating on them, Scott gains the power of self respect and wins. In the end, Knives finally accepts the breakup and Scott and Ramona go for it.

Nerd!

TOM’S DISCUSSION CORNER

TOPIC 1 — General Movie Thoughts

This movie is super fun, and a lot better than I remembered. I can’t say I’ve seen anything quite like it, but I also haven’t seen a ton of movies! Scott Pilgrim… is super charming with its quirky characters, video game nostalgia, and joke-a-second structure (almost to an exhausting degree). I imagine if you’re a gamer, this movie will really click with you. I’m not much of a gamer, but I had fun anyway! I like the parts where the game stuff happened.

I can see why this movie would be very annoying to people. The non-conventional comic book-like effects and the fast-paced, chaotic direction would make someone like my mom, for example, frown so heavily that those two creases in her brow would dig holes into her brain. A live-action video game movie would not please your grandfather, who likely farmed for sorghum back in 1912. Also, I think by now people were starting to get sick of Michael Cera being Michael Cera. Scott Pilgrim… marks the end of the Michael Cera era (or, if you will, the Michael C-era) as far as I’m concerned. This role works for him, though, as he can simultaneously pull off being the super awkward geek and the springy and spry badass… well, maybe “badass” goes too far, but he is springy. He sure is the skinniest here compared to any other time I’ve ever seen him. And he’s just the worst protagonist ever. Weaselly and springy. Not a badass. Sorry about that.

I’m gonna nuzzle the crap outta that guy!

The supporting cast is all strong. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is perfect as the non-manic non-pixie dream girl whose love everyone wants to fight for. I mean, her first appearance is literally in Scott’s dream. Winstead plays just the right level of disaffected that could only be bested by Audrey Plaza (also in this movie, by the way). Scott’s ex becomes so jealous of her that she attempts to look just like her. These are all tropes played out beautifully enough to not feel tropey. Their takes are meta and self-aware. Kieran Culkin is also fantastic as Scott’s often exasperated gay roommate. Jason Schwartzmann is so easy to hate, too, which is a role he’s really good at playing. Hell, a pre-Captain America Chris Evans is probably the best part of the whole movie, playing the over-the-top narcissistic Hollywood actor and skateboarder. It’s amazing to see how stacked this movie is with actors who would eventually get bigger roles. Did I mention Brie Larson? Brie Larson is in this movie, too.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is funny too, relying on fast-paced cuts, sound effects, and subversion of cringe. Anything awkward is undercut by Cera doubling down on it, which he is a master at. Once a George Michael, always a George Michael. He does most of the heavy lifting, is all I’m saying. Take that for the five cents it’s worth.

Her?

TOPIC 2 — I Said a Lot Already in Topic 1

There is no Topic 2.

IMDb TRIVIA FUNHOUSE!

The four cast members that made up the band “Sex Bob-Omb” spent several weeks learning how to play together as a band. Mark Webber, Alison Pill, and Johnny Simmons all had to learn their instruments from scratch, while Michael Cera had to “dumb down” his bass playing in order to not outshine his band mates.
Michael Cera was probably picking his bass like Les Fucking Claypool for 45 takes before he got yelled at.

Edgar Wright told his casting director not to hire any English actors as this was his first North American film. Satya Bhabha, who played Matthew Patel, successfully passed the audition with a non-English accent. Bhabha later revealed he was from London, England.
I like how the “later revealed” part implies that he completely got away with a crime and the statute of limitations was up. Is this how Hollywood is? No one checks anyone’s background? How dare this Englishman pass through security? Never again.

Edgar Wright vs. the Conniving British

Mary Elizabeth Winstead memorized ALL of the kinds of tea that her character rambles. Crew members kept offering for her to just read it from a piece of paper, but she insisted on learning it all.
Here are the teas I know: black, green, Sleepytime, iced, and Pusha.

To avoid an R-rating, the word “Fuck”, said by Envy to Julie, had to be bleeped out because Scott Pilgrim calls Todd Ingram a “cocky-cock” earlier in the film.
“Cocky-cock” contributes toward the R-rating minimum? That seems unfair. I would’ve dropped the “cocky-cock” altogether and called Todd Ingram a “prolapsed cuntface”. PG-13 ahoy.

When Scott first approaches Ramona at the party, a light switch is visible on a wall, seven feet above the ground near the ceiling. The party scene was filmed at a frat house in Canada, and the light switch puzzled the director as well as the crew.
Oh man, I didn’t even notice. I was too busy staring at the balloons, which look like a nutsack.

Hey, baby. Want to stand close to be while the ball drops?

IS IT WORTH A WATCH?

Yeah. For something that’s over a decade old, I feel like the overall charm still rings true in a timeless way. Plus, anyone who likes comic books and/or video games enough will find the references and allusions to be fun, playful and quirky.

Come for the George Michael Bluth, stay for the Captain America.