Scott Pilgrim vs. the World [Celluloid Hero]

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

I had been in the middle of a self-imposed moratorium on Michael Cera movies. Sure, I loved Arrested Development and Superbad, but after viewing movies like "Youth In Decay" and "Paper Heart", I couldn't handle any more of Cera's schtick. SPvtW came out right around that time I got burned out, and I regret not having seen it sooner, because it totally redeemed Cera.

Scott Pilgrim is a bass player in an indie punk band with major issues in the love department. The movie starts about a year after a devastating breakup, and 22-year-old Scott starts dating a 17-year-old Asian girl who is still in high school. She falls in love with him, but he is drawn to a mysterious girl Ramona. Ramona has a similarly extensive dating past, including a "League of Evil Exes" who will fight any new guy who starts to date her.

The whole movie is an homage to comic books and video games. On-screen exclamations pop up like the old Batman "POW" and "WHACK", enemies are defeated and explode into piles of coins. Video game-style fights feature crazy kung fu flips, flying punches, and gigantic weaponry.

I LOVE director Edgar Wright. His attention to detail is borderline obsessive. He's most famous for his "Cornetto Trilogy" (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World's End), and each time I watch those movies I catch something new. He doesn't do anything without intent, all the small details, pictures on the walls, the clothes a character wears, everything has a purpose and comes back around at some point.

I think this made me like Michael Cera because he actually fights back in this movie. His normal style is the sputtering, stammering, nervous-laughing, awkward guy. Scott Pilgrim has good amounts of awkward, but when the time comes to battle, he stands up for himself and the girl he wants.