Julian RuncanScott Pilgrim vs. the World: Like Playing Sega on Peyote
August 23rd 2010 23:02
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is unlike any movie I've ever seen, and judging from its performance at the box office, it will take a long time for anyone to try anything this insane again. Does it work though? That's a matter of opinion. While I didn't fall in love with it like most people I've talked to, it was still fun and I can still appreciate the originality behind it. Plus, anything that makes me nostalgia that hard has to get some credit.
For some audiences, the movie will feel like a barrage of images that feel video-gamey in nature. Those who actually played the referenced games will realize just how specific some of these little nostalgia bombs actually are. Some are more obvious than others, but at any given time there must be about ten different references happening. The music, the sound effects, the dialogue, and even some of the settings were picked up from somewhere, and my brain was going a mile a minute trying to nail down even half of them.
This is where the movie hit a couple of speed bumps, there's just too much going on. For every ten things happening at once, seven of them might work for me, but three of them will fall flat. This still comes out as a positive ratio, and I realize the movie was supposed to be as over-the-top as possible, but sometimes this wasn't as charming as it wanted to be. It felt a little bit like a kid with ADD trying really hard to impress me. Cute, but a little too much at times.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a giant nerd movie. You don't necessarily have to know the references to enjoy it, but you do require an appreciation of most things geeky. While it didn't win me over as much as I hoped, the film is still visually spectacular and highly original. Since it may be a while since anything like this is ever produced again, do yourself a favor and see it if it even remotely appeals to you. The experience is certainly one of a kind.
7.5/10
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