If you're sick of reading glowing fanboy reviews of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, you might want to click away now. There's very little for me to add beyond: LOVED IT. All the potential from the comic, fully realised, in - arguably - a medium even better suited to telling this particular story than black & white semi-manga. As I've said before about Scott Pilgrim, the biggest thing this comic always had going for it was the "why hasn't anyone done that before?" concept. A young slacker battles his potential girlfriend's seven evil exes in OTT computer game and comic book inspired combat without anyone ever stopping to ask how. Just because, because that's how things work in this world - deal with it.
Scott Pilgrim kept me grinning throughout. Yes, Michael Cera is perfectly cast, but it's the support that make this film so much fun, from Kieran Culkin's mega-dry Wallace to Chris Evans and Brandon Routh hamming each other off the screen. The worst thing that could happen to Brandon Routh now is another Superman movie - with this and his show-stealing cameo in Zack & Miri, he's proved himself a far better comedy actor than comic book actor, I'd happily pay to see him headlining a movie - as long as it didn't have a big red S in the title.
Edgar Wright meanwhile takes the hyperactive direction of Spaced and turns it up to ten thousand. In a way though, we ought to be glad that this film has bombed slightly at the US box office (besides, cult status is assured) because the last thing any of us need is a load of unnecessary sequels or knock-offs. The Roadrunner-meets-Street Fighter action sequences work amazingly well in the context of Scott's world but they could so easily become annoying if, like The Matrix, they spawned a load of slow-mo imitators.
If you're stuck at certain age and never grew up, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is the most fun you could have at the cinema this summer without The A-Team. Go see it. Or don't. What do I care?
