Scott Pilgrim was bloody great.
Comedy and action. Amazing direction and fantastic writing. Fun music, great nerdcore references and spot-on acting. I really don't have anything bad to say about this movie. The only thing I can say against it is that occasionally people in the theater were laughing too hard, which made it hard to hear some of the jokes. But that is not a cause for serious concern.
If you have any sense, you'll see this movie. Everything you want in a movie is in this film. A guy fighting against seven evil ex-boyfriends for the sake of the love of his life. It's honestly the best movie of 2010. Yeah that's right, fuck Inception. And if you're from Toronto it's basically mandatory viewing.
Watch it immediately.
Anyhow let's talk about it...
First of all, I've pointed this out to many people before but it bears repeating for those of us who weren't raised on Super Mario Brothers.
This is a Bob-Omb (of the non-sexual variety):
That aside, I've been a fan of the comics since a friend introduced me to them in the Second Cup that Scott's sister works at. After I read the first volume there, we went to the park where Ramona and Scott go to (the one with the swingset). Close to home, no?
It's great to see Toronto moving up the cultural ladder a bit. This is really a city that gets no damn respect. It's always New York or LA or Paris or London. When a city in Canada is used it's going to be fucking Vancouver or Montreal or something. Unless it's a fucking Robert J. Sawyer novel or something, Toronto doesn't really exist. And Robert J. Sawyer's portrayal of Toronto is just really a name with no soul. Scott Pilgrim is probably the first thing I've seen that's really captured the spirit of my city.
Emphasis on the word spirit. It's not just a matter of familiar locales and landmarks, it's a matter of actually showing the character of the people who live here. Scott Pilgrim's brand of a shy/sincere nerdy/somehow cool sort of guy is a prime Toronto specimen. Scott Pilgrim could easily be the guy I bought this computer from or one of the assholes I play Left 4 Dead with. I guess in the comic he's more plain old crazy, but in the movie that's less apparent. But the point I'm trying to make is that this is that this is the first work of fiction set in Toronto made by someone that seems to really love Toronto in a non-superficial way. The movie is sort of a love letter to the entire city.
I don't think it's just the Toronto thing that made it good though. My favourite part of the movie was the fight with Lucas Lee. It's a brilliant scene for a lot of reasons... the stunt doubles thing, Lucas' awesome lines ("The first click will be me hanging up... the second will be me shooting you dead!") and the awesome direction to name a few. When he went for coffee as the stunt doubles beat on Scott I was just cracking up.
That's an amazing scene no matter what the context is. The fact that that was Casa Loma and that I sometimes go and sit on the steps Lucas skateboards to read sometimes is just really an extra bonus.
I kind of like that. This is Toronto's movie. Anyone else can see Scott Pilgrim and love it. But only people from this city can truly appreciate it. And even among that select few, not many can appreciate the way I can. I mean, I live just down the street from Scott after all.
But anyhow, Toronto aside...
One thing I especially liked was getting to hear the music. A comic can't really convey what a song is supposed to sound like. I'm listening to the soundtrack right now and it's actually kind of bad, but that actually fits the fiction quite well. The Sex Bob-Ombs are supposed to suck. That's explicitly spelled out in the canon. I see that Beck did a bunch of the songs, which is a band that's big enough for me to actually know of them in spite of my obscure musical tastes. I imagine that they thus weren't actually trying to suck. But well, in spite of their best efforts, things worked out!
Plus this thing was fucking awesome.
Knives Chau was done brilliantly, but I think they made her click with Scott a bit too much at the end. It made it feel just weird when she just gave up in the end. If there's one thing I think the movie didn't handle too well, it's probably that. But that is extremely minor.
I think Ramona was pretty perfect. That sort of elusive air they gave her was nice and I liked the actress. I didn't think I would when I first saw her, but she more or less was the way I always imagined Ramona to be. Tough, smart independent, bit bitchy but still very cool. Pretty enough to justify the infatuation too. I think the problem with the trailers is they mostly showed the pink haired incarnation rather than blue or green.
The text stuff worked really well. Really kept the story going along at a good pace. I'm not sure how someone who hasn't read the comic would react to it, but I felt the pacing was pretty much perfect.
They also started to the Ninja Gaiden showdown a few times, but never did the finish. That was in the comics once or twice (I think that's how he finished the girl, I can't remember). They should've gone all the way with it. It's a classic.
So yeah, overall Scott Pilgrim was a great movie that everyone should see, particularly anyone that lives in Toronto. It was made for us and we should appreciate it. There's more ...
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