Comics and video games merge in the pop-culture candy land that is “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”. Reviews slant within the direction of each critic’s tolerance for the hyperactive, hyper-stylized world fans of fighting games for instance “Street Fighter” know well. The augmented or artificial reality of “Scott Pilgrim” tends to sit well with those critics who found something of value within the ultra-violent comic book film “Kick Ass”. However, fans of both have generally had even more favorable things to say about the Pilgrim.
’Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ reviews praise the power combo
A fantastic mash up of popular sources makes “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” a unique experience. Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera of “Juno,” “Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist” and “Youth in Revolt”) is a young slacker who spends his time playing music in a band and looking for the love of his life. He eventually finds it in Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), but is faced by a septet of trouble. These trials are Ramona’s “seven evil exes,” who Scott must defeat in kung-fu style before taking the hand of the young lady. It’s simplistic, much like any of the video game plots that inform “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”. It may not teach you anything, but that’s OK. It is a pop culture ride, and we are to ride along.
A fusion of reviews in the land of nerdville
The New York Daily News loves the visual flair of “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”. Eric D. Snider of Film.com hails the film’s exuberance and surreal visual style and says the surrealism does not shake the film’s target audience – 20-somethings – from their reality, but salutes it. Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times calls the one-man-versus-the-horde throw down an “inventive, free-floating ode to nerdville” where star Michael Cera “channels his Cera-ness perfectly, which is tougher than it looks”.
What matters is getting there, not where ‘there’ is
Scott Pilgrim rocks on, and “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” reviews typically seem to understand the film. ”It’s the playing that matters,” not who wins the skirmish of exes, says the Los Angeles Times reviewer. But on the other side of the fence are reviewers like Kyle Smith of the New York Post. He writes that “the movie just skitters this way and that (and) has a love affair with itself”. But maybe that misses the point. ”All games, no joystick” is the Post’s verdict, yet judging by box office receipts, individuals are lining up to play.
Films.com
film.com/features/story/review-scott-pilgrim-takes-us/39953185
Los Angeles Times
latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-scott-pilgrim-20100813,0,4279497.story
New York Daily News
nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2010/08/13/2010-08-13_scott_pilgrim_vs_the_world_review_music_and_videogame_visuals_take_this_tale_for.html
New York Post
nypost.com/p/entertainment/movies/all_games_no_joystick_LiPc4JHjB5HPqyv4vSD4AN
