SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD — ★★★ — Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong; rated PG-13 (violence, vulgarity, brief sex, profanity); in general release
"Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" is perhaps the closest any filmmaker has come yet to translating comic book material directly to the movie screen.
The film version of the story is live-action and in color, unlike the cartoony, black-and-white version seen in the popular series of graphic novels by writer/artist Bryan Lee O'Malley. But the movie is extremely faithful, both in style and in its tone.
But that seeming strength may be the movie's biggest weakness. The romantic comedy/action-comedy hybrid is high-energy and manic, almost like a cartoon or video game.
It's also fun, funny, exciting and even a bit touching. Whether anyone outside the comic's target audience, especially older filmgoers, will enjoy it is anyone's guess, though.
(Co-screenwriter/director Edgar Wright has had difficulty finding wide audiences. His 2004 and 2007 films, "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz," respectively, were mostly cult hits.)
Michael Cera stars as the title character, an unemployed, 20-something slacker. Scott plays bass guitar in a band and is also dating a high school student, Knives Chau (Ellen Wong).
But he quickly dumps Knives once he meets Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), an alluring, mysterious messenger.
At first, Ramona doesn't want anything to do with Scott, but he eventually wears down her defenses. But once they start dating, she informs him that he'll have to battle and defeat her "evil" exes, who include a movie star (Chris Evans), a vegan musician (Brandon Routh) and a music producer (Jason Schwartzman).
Like the source material, this adaptation has sneaky smarts. It's about the transformative process of being in a relationship and about overcoming doubts.
Cera, who can be one-note, is not only convincing in that regard, but he's also convincing as an action star, which comes as quite a surprise.
He's part of a top-to-bottom excellent cast. Aside from rising star Winstead, the standout here may be Kieran Culkin, who's a scream as Scott's wisecracking roommate.
"Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" is rated PG-13 and features strong violent content and imagery (swordplay, brawling and fisticuffs, including martial-arts combat, explosive and fiery mayhem, and violence against women), some comic violence (slapstick pratfalls and the like), suggestive language and references (mostly slang), a brief sex scene (mostly implied), scattered profanity, brief drug references (narcotics), and derogatory language and slurs. Running time: 112 minutes.
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