I may as well have watched “The Expendables” rather than “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.” At least Sylvester Stallone didn’t try to pretend that his movie is anything but a dumb action flick. Ultimately, that’s all “Scott Pilgrim” is, too.
And that’s a shame because the film begins so promisingly. The enormously talented Michael Cera (“Superbad”) is perfectly cast as Scott Pilgrim: the ultimate dweeb hipster.
Scott is a 22-year-old man/boy living in Toronto. He shares a one room, one bed apartment with a nosey roommate because his job as bassist for an unsuccessful rock band doesn’t exactly pay the bills.
But Scott is adorable and cool in a geeky sort of way, so he does pretty darn well with women. Well, girls, anyway. When we meet him, Scott has just started dating a high school senior.
The first act of “Scott Pilgrim” is excellent because the title character is so realistic. This isn’t the sweet, lovable Michael Cera that we’re used to.
Scott Pilgrim is just like a real 22-year-old male: a selfish, clueless, undependable jerk who is driven by insecurities that he is not mature enough to understand. He treats girls poorly because he never thinks about their point of view.
The film gets a lot less realistic and lot more boring when Scott meets his dream girl: Ramona Flowers.
Inexplicably, Ramona likes Scott. Even more inexplicably, Scott must battle and defeat Ramona’s seven evil exes in order to be with her. Why exactly? Who knows.
The first two fights are kind of fun and exhilarating. But then the ugly truth becomes clear: we’re going to have to sit through five more fights. The rest of the movie is going to be nothing but fighting.
So while the first half of the movie is driven by characterization and inspiration, the last hour is nothing but mindless, pointless action. It’s simply fight after tedious fight.
Perhaps the film’s biggest flaw is that we never get to know anything about Ramona Flowers, other than the fact that she seems to date a lot of violent people.
Ramona’s looks are enough to explain why Scott wants to date her. But we need a little more than that to justify Scott’s willingness to repeatedly risk his life for her.
Simply looking mysterious and damaged is not enough to make me interested in a character, and that is all Ramona does.
The key relationship that should be driving the plot simply EXISTS without any passion or meaning. What could have been the ultimate geek romance movie degenerates into nothing more than a lame action flick.
“Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” begins with a lot of promise and ends with a lot of boring, cartoonish fighting. It is a real disappointment.
1/2