SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD 2 stars
Universal Pictures, Rated PG-13
Scott Pilgrim is a young man who has a serious identity crisis and so does the movie bearing his name.
While 20something Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is thwarted by a lack of direction in his life and can’t make up his mind in the romance department between doting underage schoogirl Knives Chau (Ellen Wong) or sampling somebody more his own age, the alternately cranky and cartoonish comedy Scott Pilgrim vs. The World can’t seem to decide whether it’s a flippant sketchy post-teen angst weepie or your basic flamboyant comic book screen transplant. So if you end up feeling as schizophrenic as this indecisively layered movie, don’t worry about it, because the characters don’t seem to have much of an idea what’s going on either.
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Adapted from Bryan Lee O’Malley’s insanely popular graphic novel and directed by Brit brainiac Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), the mix ’n match, alternately-slo-mo and breathlessly paced movietoon finds Pilgrim in a decidedly shallow existential bind. Recently dumped by his girlfriend, Scott repairs his broken heart by embarking on a celibate fling with nonthreatening high schooler Knives. That is, until he becomes obsessed with trading her in for sexier, comparatively older post-pubescent seductress Romana Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who may be into changing boyfriends as frequently as her glow-in-the-dark hair colors.
Michael Cera (L.) and Jason Schwartzman in Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Much of the ensuing hyper high-tech flash and sparkle digitalized imagery is mesmerizing. But the story, which amounts to a chaotic series of romantic rivalries and beatdowns punctuated by musically inclined Pilgrim’s battle of the garage band showdowns, fails to live up to all the upstaging visual hype, even if Kieran Culkin appears to be working overtime to inject a badly needed lifeline of comic relief as Pilgrim’s gay roommate.
So is Wright rooting for his raging hormone, angry young poseur cast of characters, or casting a condescending eye on their primarily self-indulgent small-world view? It’s hard to tell. Let’s just say the story seems more likely to dazzle than deeply involve audience brain cells.
