ANALYSIS: Pat Benatar said love is a battlefield. In SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD, love is
a
battle as Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) must defeat the seven super powered evil
exes of his new girlfriend Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) to be with her. Meanwhile, Scott deals with
breaking up with his 17 year old girlfriend Knives Chau (played to perfection by Ellen Wong) and playing with his band, Sex
Bob-Omb, who are entering the battle of the bands to get a record label contract (which is less of a big
dream these days given internet distribution and iTunes).
The film is a love story done as a video game with levels and evil foes to vanquish. Director Edgar
Wright continues to impress with this kinetic mix of humor, action, and romance. Every character in this film
is fun to watch from Scott’s gay roommate to Scott’s ex-girlfriend (who has her own band) to his sister. I can’t
forget the woman who says the F bomb that it gets bleeped and blacked out every time she says the F word. Brandon Routh is
amusingly arrogant as Ramona’s ex-boyfriend who is an evil vegan band member of
Scott’s ex’s group. SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD is a movie that I
dug from the first frame to the last frame. The only thing missing is a cameo or part for
Simon Pegg. Its hyper reality video game
world is a fun one to visit and watch.
It might just end up as a cult film that the mass public might not be able
to absorb and yet I really loved this one.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Four audio commentaries for the film- the crew commentaries
are worth listening to more like the one with Director Edgar Wright, Co-Writer Michael Bacall, and Graphic novel creator Bryan
Lee O'Malley as they discuss the changes between the graphic novel and the film and where they are the same.
Edgar Wright also does an audio commentary with Director of Photography Bill Pope.
Two cast commentaries- one features Michael
Cera, Jason Schwartzman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong, & Brandon Routh. The second cast track has Anna Kendrick,
Aubrey Plaza, Kieran Culkin, Mark Webber.
Also an optional trivia track is included which could be played while you
watch the film. The first cast audio commentary is the only one with optional English subs while I wish the crew commentaries
had an English subtitle option.
Director/ Co-Writer Edgar Wright provides
optional audio commentary for 21 deleted scenes (about 27 minutes in all) including the original ending of the film. The
deleted scenes are fun to watch and some are extended scenes. Edgar cut some scenes for pacing while test audience
reaction caused the ending to change (I like the original ending too and the theatrical ending does hew close to the graphic
novel series ending). The blooper reel is entertaining and shows it took 33 takes for Michael Cera to throw
a box into the trash can Rounding out the DVD extras are 12 still galleries (Production Photos, Storyboards, Theatrical
Posters, Fictional Posters from the film, Bryan's Flip Charts, Graphic Novel Comparison gallery, the original Big Boss battle
with Mecha-Gideon, and other galleries).
The Blu-ray includes a Making-Of documentary,
alternate takes, and more.
FINAL ANALYSIS: I love SCOTT PILGRIM
VS. THE WORLD and it is one of my favorite films of 2010. The DVD has good extras, but the Blu-ray
does win out with more extras if you're looking for the most extras on the film. Don't miss out on this cult gem.
this
DVD review is (c)11-12-2010 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com
