AND MICHAEL CERA AS MICHAEL CERA: Based on yesterday's movie thread and the demographics of this blog's readership, seems we need a thread to discuss Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. There's a lot to admire in the movie--in particular the visual style and the well-tuned comic performances by folks like Chris Evans, Aubrey Plaza, Kieran Culkin, and Brandon Routh. However, I had a problem with the film's narrative--it's never entirely clear to what extent the highly stylized things we're seeing represent reality, how Scott views reality, or some alternate universe altogether. Also, at one point, a "rule" is introduced concerning how Scott must defeat the evil exes, but it seemed to me as though that rule had been broken in one of the previous fights.
However, my biggest problem is that for the film to work, you have to really buy that Ramona Flowers is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is gorgeous, but ultimately, I found her to be a pretty standard issue Manic Pixie Dream Girl (minus the mania) with a primary character definition of "bold rejection of social norms as evidenced by your dyed hair." Mary Elizabeth Winstead is gorgeous, but the script doesn't give her a lot of character beyond Scott telling us how wonderful he thinks she is. Contrast with Anna Kendrick and Aubrey Plaza, who manage to create fully drawn (and very funny) characters in their much smaller parts (as Scott's gossipy older sister and a profanely apathetic woman who seems to work in every store Scott visits, respectively), in part because of the writing, and in part because of their sharp-tongued performances.
The audience ate the movie up, though, and was responsive not just during the movie, but during the pre-show, including scattered applause for the Old Spice commercial, and serious derision toward the Devil trailer. If you think you're going to enjoy this one, you probably will, but I'm not quite sure what the studio was thinking, spending as much as $90 million on a movie that, while it will become a cult classic, isn't going to be a crossover hit.
