I loved the preview for this movie. An adorable beta boy (Michael Cera) has to battle his lady love’s (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) seven evil exes to win her heart.
I thought it might be a more kinetic Paper Hearts, but instead Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was two hours of an inside joke I didn’t get inside a video game I didn’t understand.
At first I just figured I was too damn old for the jarring, ADD-accommodating style of this movie, but maybe it’s just that I’m too damned out. This thing has cult written all over it in comic book bubbles, literally.
It did have good indie pop, though. And warm, grounding performances from the leads, plus delicious cameos from HBO’s Thomas James and Jason Schwartzman. Kieran Culkin steals every scene he’s in as Scott’s gay roommate; they share a bed even though there’s nothing going on.
I found myself annoyed with this movie. It wasn’t so much the comic book thing–my first Web site was an homage to Chasing Amy, after all–it was the video game thing. It was the way that after Pilgrims rivals were defeated (spoiler?) coins fell to the floor as if instead of returning to dust they were returning to bus fare. Or the way there was a Crouching Tiger aerial fight scene every ten minutes. Or the way no one questioned any of it.
I found myself wondering if this movie would just be a cult thing for the type of fanwankers who were surrounding me tonight, or if I should really be taking note of the jump cuts and stupid one-liners if I hope to make it as an author. I mean is this the way things are heading?
The practical adult side of me will be checking Box Office magazine to see the weekend returns so I can decide if I should start getting my narrative inspiration from video games.
I can’t hear my regular muse right now anyway. I have tinnitus from Scott Pilgrim’s quest.
