Scott Pilgrim vs. the world (2010)

"Scott Pilgrim vs. the world" is a computer game transferred to live-action cinema.
It is a colorful, fast-paced, energetic action adventure that, however, could not obtain any excitement on a level beyond its technical execution.

The story is pretty easy to explain. Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), a somehow troubled, young man struggles with life and love. He looks like a nerd but is not the weird loser noone wants to spend time with. In fact his former girlfriend is quite a star singer and he is playing in a rock band himself. At the moment he is dating a 17 year old asian girl - probably out of pity for himself. He isn't happy with this situation and his friends and sister don't think it is a good idea either.
One day he meets the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers, who just moved to town and is already the coolest girl around. She's an obstinate rocker and does not seem to be an easy pick for Scott. But they eventually do get together. There is only one little problem ... or rather seven not-so-little problems. If Scott wants to continue to date Ramona he has to defeat her "seven evil exes", that is to say he has to fight with her seven ex-lovers be it boys or girls.

If you are a lover of computer games you will maybe find yourself in nostalgia here and there when Pilgrim and the exes battle in kung-fu style like in Tekken, Mortal Combat or whatever, when they use special telepathic powers to smash their enemy or when they summon giant creatures to fight for them. And when Pilgrim wins the first round and picks up the coins his opponent left behind you might applaud him.

I think this was fun, too ... at least for 15 minutes or so. There is no denying the energy and orignality behind the staging. The cinematography is often striking but aside from the interesting visual aspects and some funny lines there is nothing more to it.

The story does not progress at all. The movie starts like it ends. The joyful stylized look can entertain for a while but then it goes on and on and becomes utterly repetitive. I did not care for any of the shallow characters any time.

A fast pace and somewhat creative action sequences are not enough to really satisfy even though they tried to not make the fight scenes all look the same but I was pretty bored towards the end.

It is a film made for a certain audience only. It is an immature, infantile exercise in style that really kind of aims on a part of the young generation right now I think. A big party with lots of action for those with short attention spans with lots of cheeky jokes, sex- and drug references. And that is not meant in a negative way. I can see why this film is pretty popular as many people may be reminded of their teenage life or at least dream of their teenage life to be just like that of Scott Pilgrim. But that said, I can't see how anyone older than 16 can really embrace this film any further than that. I smiled here and there but that's about it. Maybe that is the reason why this film was rather a flop at the box office as most grown-ups probably backed off when they saw the trailers. Still that was quite surprising to me ...

Director Edgar Wright's latest work follows films like "Shaun of the dead" and "Hot Fuzz" but falling behind quite a bit. If this premise attracts you, go for it, for the rest of us there is no reason to worry if you missed it.