adaptation…

I’m not entirely sure how to review Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. I’ve been sitting on this review for over a week perplexed about what to write – just like I did with the fifth volume of the titular comic series.  To say that I loved this movie is an understatement. I am in love with this film. The casting is perfect. Despite the doubts of the countless Michael Cera haters among Scott Pilgrim fans, Cera did a fantastic job with the character. His Scott is not exactly the Scott from the book – he is plays the character a bit mopier and less high energy than in the book but the tone of his performance fits the tone of Edgar Wright’s film perfect. Mary Winstead as Ramona is, in some ways, even better than Cera as Scott. She takes what this film gives her (exactly what that means will be discussed below) and runs with it. She just nails the character – some of that may be credited to the costume department which lovingly recreated Ramona’s outfits but still, Winstead was great. I was actually more worried about her performance (I’ve seen Live Free or Die Hard) than another actor in the film. However, she left me wowed.

As good as Cera and Winestead are, in many ways, the supporting characters are even better. Stephen Stills, Julie, Kim, and, especially, Wallace are given great performances that embody the characters with as little (or as much) time given to them by Wright. It is actually very impressive how many of the supporting characters Wright was able to squeeze into the movie. And despite all of that the movie never feels bloated.

Edgar Wright really has captured how to make a great adaptation with Scott Pilgrim v. the World. He sticks lovingly close to spirt of his source material without being pornographically loyal to it. He does away with things that don’t make sense in the context of the film. And you never miss them. Wright condenses much (unsurprising considering that he is turning 6 books into 1 movie) but it never feels like you are really losing anything.

In some ways, aspects of the story are better executed by Wright than they were by O’Malley in the books. The twins and, especially, Gideon were put to much better use in the film. Though the latter may just be because of Jason Schwartzman’s hilariously jerky performance.

Did I mention the soundtrack? Its great.

All that said… Read the rest of this entry »