Geeks and fanboys draw close and listen well. Get your anoraks out of storage and pedal to your closest cinema, because the ultimate computer game just had sex with a comic book and was filmed by Shaun of the Dead’s Edgar Wright. The result is Scott Pilgrim vs The World, the coolest and geekiest thing to come out of Toronto since its star Micheal Cera.
Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is an unemployed slacker who plays in a band called Sex Bob Omb. One day Scott meets the beautiful Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and true love is not far behind. The only problem is, for Scott to win her heart he must face Ramona’s seven evil exes in a fight to death.
Straight off the bat I can say that Edgar Wright’s (Hot Fuzz) Scott Pilgim vs The World is a cool movie. Not since Kick Ass earlier this year has a film given me that warm fuzzy feeling you get when the director is on the same page as you and treats the material with the love it deserves.
Aside from a love story where the geek finally gets the girl, Scott Pilgrim is also a computer-generated ass-kicking movie where the combatants fight to the death only for the loser to explode in a shower of coins, much like the characters in Nintendo’s Mario Bros.
Whole new world
From the moment the film starts you know you’re in whole new world (Commodore 64 and Spectrum 48K lovers will be grinning from ear to ear). Director Edgar Wright throws every possible trick in the book at the screen and nine out of ten times it works (the urine gauge when Scott is taking a piss is only the beginning).
His cast is also up to the task, with Michael Cera leading the fight against the likes of Chris Evans (Sunshine and the up-n-coming Captain America), Jason Schwartzman (Darjeeling Ltd) and fans favourite  Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) playing an evil vegan with a superiority complex shield. A special mention goes to Kieran Culkin (bro of Macauly) who nails it as Scott’s gay roomie with a wicked tongue.
Some of the ladies on display are Scott’s sister played by Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Grindhouse and Die Hard 4.0) as Scott’s love Ramona and my favourite newbie Ellen Wong as Knives Chau (cool name or what?).
Scott Pilgim is based on the much-loved comic book series of the same name and the film stays true to source material throughout. Anyone who liked Wright’s Channel 4 TV series Spaced will automatically fall for Pilgrim, while those new to his work will enjoy a smartly scripted, coolly directed, grungy soundtracked tribute to Nineties computer games and the youth spent playing them.
It’s hard to describe just how cool Scott Pilgrim is without sounding like a complete geek but if it’s in you then Scott Pilgrim vs The World will probably bring it out of you.
Andrew Kennedy
We’ve five goodie bags to give away, each containing a Scott Pilgrim t-shirt and hat. To win, simply send your name and mailing address to givemestuff@joe.ie with the word ‘Scott’ in the subject line by Wednesday 8 September at 5pm. First five out of the hat win.
