First off, let me just say, if you're a huge fan of video games and action movies like myself, there is no doubt you will love "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" based on the graphic novel series "Scott Pilgrim" by Bryan Lee O'Malley. I read the graphic novel series and enjoyed each and every one of them. I even played the Scott Pilgrim video game made after the film was released.
As a reviewer, it's my job to provide my honest opinion about anything that I review. "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" has a confusing, awkward, and off-putting beginning. Right from the start, the movie lets you know the setting is Toronto, Canada, and the protagonist is 23-year-old Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), who is a bassist in a garage band called Sex Bob-Omb. It seems like an OK start to the movie until the viewer is introduced to a 17-year-old high schooler Knives Chau (Ellen Wong), who is Scott's girlfriend. It's weird and unusual for the movie's protagonist to be dating anyone in high school and far from his own age, and that's only about 5-10 minutes into the movie.
Things go downhill with all these randomly placed flashy jump cuts scattered in the first 25 minutes of the movie prior to Scott meeting his new love interest Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). These 25 minutes were just boring to me, and if it weren't for the video game innuendos such as character description cards and a pee bar, for example, I might have turned it off.
HOWEVER, once Ramona's ex-boyfriend Matthews Patel comes and challenges Scott for her love, it's like the movie literally glued your eyes to the screen. There's an amazingly choreographed fight scene, one that resembles fighting games such as "Street Fighter" or "Tekken," filled with video game elements such as being rewarded with coins after a boss battle.
Oh, and it doesn't end there. Many more fights are to come, each better than the last. The action and comedy factors go up further and further as the movie progresses as Scott fights the remaining members of Ramona's evil exes, one including Captain America himself, Chris Evans, as Lucas Lee. This movie by far qualifies as one of my favorite movies of all time. If you haven't seen this movie yet, I highly recommend you take time out of your day, grab some popcorn, and enjoy the masterpiece that is "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World."
