# Scott Pilgrim vs The World

> From the DIY rock of the film soundtrack — performed by alt-rock stalwart Beck — to the pure, unleashed imagination of the film’s visuals, there’s never been anything like it

By Adrian Drayton · 19 December 2010 · Reviews / Gaming

Canonical: https://insights1.uca.org.au/articles/scott-pilgrim-vs-the-world/

## **(M) Universal DVD/BD**

Fuelled by punk rock and a love of classic Nintendo, with a visual vocabulary that is part manga, part Mario Brothers, and a quirky, sweetly awkward central love story that feels cut from the same cloth as *Juno*, this film is an unexpected delight.

The movie is utterly enthralled with its own comic book origins (director Edgar Wright is a fan) and it shows in every frame. Wright brings bright colours and goofy humour to a production that splices animation and video game graphics into every single live-action frame. Even the Universal logo and theme at the film’s opening is rendered with ’80s video game aesthetics.

Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera, as a punk rock/action hero version of his *Juno* character) plays bass for an up-and-coming garage band. He’s dating a high school girl named Knives (Ellen Wong) but falls for another girl; so it’s out with Knives, in with Ramona — except, in order to date her he must defeat each of her seven evil exes in battle.

The seventh ex happens to be Gideon (Jason Schwartzman), a record label guru whose Battle of the Bands contest Scott’s trio is trying to conquer.

Wright — conjuring the same surprising blend of deadpan humour, cinema savvy, and heart that he exhibited in his previous films (*Hot Fuzz* and *Shaun of the Dead*) — works with a stellar cast and the great cinematographer Bill Pope to create an absolutely knockout movie that’s not as full of in-jokes as one would imagine.

From the DIY rock of the film soundtrack — performed by alt-rock stalwart Beck — to the pure, unleashed imagination of the film’s visuals, there’s never been anything like it: it’s a movie that nods in familiar directions but never feels anything other than pure and new.

All the better, you don’t need to be a Nintendo nerd or garage band enthusiast to enjoy this film — it’s a joy from start to finish.

**Adrian Drayton**