Guest blogger Liz Parker is back from seeing "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World". Is Liz now a comic book convert? Let's see what Liz thinks....
When I first saw the trailer for Scott Pilgrim a few months back, I immediately disliked it. It was confusing and there was too much going on in it. Once a friend explained to me that it's based on a comic book series, it made more sense; still, it wasn't a movie I was dying to see. When I won free passes to see it, however, I was hoping that it would be good, since I am a big Michael Cera fan. Luckily, I was not disappointed.
Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera, "Youth in Revolt") is 22 years old and lives in Toronto. He has a band called the Sex Bob-ombs, and he is now dating a 17-year-old high school girl named Knives Chau (newcomer Ellen Wong). When he meets Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, "Live Free or Die Hard"), however, he knows that he's in love. They start dating, but there's a catch: he must defeat her seven evil exes ("not ex-boyfriends, but exes," she constantly reminds him) before he can really be with her. The exes show up everywhere and randomly, and although Scott is pretty good at fighting (he learns most of his skills from video games, in my opinion), he gets pummeled pretty hard during the majority of the movie too.
The evil exes were hilarious, although some were more noteworthy than others. Chris Evans ("The Losers") plays Lucas Lee, who Ramona dated in high school and who is now a major movie star; Jason Schwartzman ("Funny People") is Gideon, a record exec who might sign the Sex Bomb-ombs but who is Ramona's most recent ex, and who has a powerful hold over her. Her one female ex is played by Mae Whitman (TV's "Parenthood") and is amusing as well. Other supporting actors include Kieran Culkin ("Paper Man") as Scott's gay roommate, Anna Kendrick ("Eclipse") as Scott's sister, and Brie Larson ("Greenberg") as his most recent ex.
Yes, see this movie, but keep in mind that it's more geared to the under-30 crowd. The film was definitely strange and quirky but it makes it work, and fantastically so. Every time Scott defeats an "opponent" (an "evil ex"), he gets points, and the movie had many video game and comic book-esque features to it - we see lots of POWs on the screen when people are being hit, for example, and hearts float across the screen in some of the more romantic scenes. I was laughing during most of the movie, and it moves at such a fast pace that it's fun to watch.
"Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" premieres in theaters, August 13th.
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Liz Parker is a 2009 graduate of the University of Michigan. She currently works as an Assistant Medical Editor for a pathology website. Visit her at her movie blog Yes/No Films
