Scott Pilgrim is out of his depth. He is dating a 17 year old school girl called Knives Chau, he is in a struggling band called Sex Bob-omb that is going nowhere and he has now met Ramona Flowers, fallen in love with her and decided to try to win her.
What he does not realise is that if he is going to date Ramona, he will have to defeat her seven evil ex's. He decides it is worth it, but he does not really have the faintest idea what he is doing or how he is going to do it.
For a film such as Scott Pilgrim, the above plot summary helps very little, as it is so much more about the film's style than its content. Edgar Wright, who got this gig off the back of his barn-storming work on Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz has taken a comic book and adapted it with an endless and endlessly breath-taking barrage of stylistic flourishes. There are comic book style panels on screen, a retro gaming graphics-tweaked Universal logo at the outset, Tekken / Street Fighter style "vs" square-offs before each fight, on-screen score cards for each character when they are introduced, even a "pee bar" that goes down as Scott empties his bladder.
This is a genuinely excellent film, wittily scripted, with a truly touching romance between Scott and Ramona developing in a surprisingly natural manner, given the wealth of fantastical elements on display. Perhaps that is Wright's great victory, to anchor the film with an engaging central paring and a relationship that feels real, so that we are invested in and care about what becomes of them as they whirl off into fights that involve giant hammers, CGI dragons, super-powered vegans, flaming swords, kung fu and Bollywood dance routines. It should not be underestimated how difficult it is to hold such disparate elements in tension, while still keeping the film's tone even. Having said that, it should come as no surprise that Edgar Wright manages it, given (for example) his handling of the death of Shaun's mother in Shaun of the Dead in the midst of an entirely preposterous Crouch End zombie holocaust. This clearly the work of a supremely talented and self-assured director and it will be intriguing to see where he goes from here.
As for the cast, they are great. Michael Cera as Scott is similar to Michael Cera in Superbad or Juno, although he is perhaps a little more clueless and helpless here, baffled by much of what is going on. He plays it to perfection. Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona is also spot on, managing to be alluring but not annoying, desirable but tangible. The supporting work is great too. Anna Kendrick follows up her sterling work in "Up in the Air" as Scott's younger sister, Ellen Wong as "Knives Chau" is adorable and makes the pain of being passed over by Scott in favour of Ramona truly moving and Kieren Culkin plays a slightly predatory gay flatmate who is hilarious without ever being cliched or patronising.
Best of all are the evil ex's. Special kudos to Chris Evans as a vain, skateboarding action star and Brandon Routh as a vegan bassist with big muscles and a tiny brain. It is a film that scoops you up, carries you along and then throws you out at the end with a big smile on your face and a long list of lines that you keep dropping into conversations for weeks afterwards. I said lesbians.
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