Retro Review 3: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Hello again interwebs!

So I've been pondering full on doing my Retro Reviews. the good part about them is I dont always have to sit through a horrible movie first before reviewing!

Instead I get to watch awesome movies like Cabin in the Woods and Let the right one in.

So I figured, why not do My favorite movie of all time? So I am! Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World!

Yeah I know, a bit odd of a favorite movie huh? but, behold, a harsh review of my own favorite movie!

Retro Review: Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World

Pros:
Oh where to start. I'll first pick on Edgar Wright, My hands down favorite director out there. He's made all of 4 movies and all 4 are floating around my top 10. I kid you not. But this one is solidly on top and has been there practically since I first saw it. The unbelievable pacing and odd quirky characters is extremely well made.

The first time I saw it I was giddy from the first shot. No, wait, before the first shot, the first 8-bit Universal Logo. For some reason I got goosebumps at the beginning and they never went away for the whole movie. It was like that feeling you get when you see someone you love. wow I'm in love with a movie. That explains a lot

So I've always liked Michael Cera, i know theres a lot of Hate against him for some reason but I've always liked him. I love Juno and Nick and Norah, and I'm really curious to see Magic Magic and Crystal Fairy. If your only reason for not watching Scott pilgrim is because of Cera, You're missing out on a real Gem of a film. so get your head out of your ass and Watch it.

OK, moving on to the rest of the cast. the real stand outs to me are Brandon Routh as Todd Ingram, AKA the Vegan. He was great as the lunk head full of green. Hes a complete badass. The next stand out is Ellen Wong as Knives Chau. the 17 year old Asian School girl. wow that sounds like a bad setup to Tentacle Porn. Anyway, I loved knives the whole way through and really wanted her and Scott to end up together at the end. but alas, it's not to be. (theres a sally song in there somewhere)

Finally, my favorite Character, Kieran Culkin as Wallace Wells is hilarious. I love the idea of the Dick Gay Roommate. and he steals every scene he's in. the Constant jokes about him calling the sister is great, and I love the line "Gimme the bacon" just because Bacon is awesome!

Ok, so Director and acting are done, next up, Editing! This is one of the few movies where the editing truly makes the movie. It's expertly paced and never lets up through the whole movie. the many many many quirky weird transitions and sight gags are brilliant. I loved how the transitions and sequences all mirror the pacing and plot of the scenes.

Ok, Script time. I've been over the pacing and all but let's look at the dialogue and why the pacing works so well. For example, the scene with Matthew Patel starting his random bollywood song. the only reason that scene works is because of Stacy's "what?" which makes you realize everyone else thinks its out of the ordinary too. otherwise it would just seem too random. that same example goes for Julie Powers' Self Bleeping Mouth. the only reason the joke works is because Scott mentions it. These subtle touches make the movie an absolutely perfect blend of comedy and outlandish Ideas that otherwise wouldn't have worked.

Fights! Who woulda thought that Cera could do action? But the awesome Lucas Lee fight scene and Matthew Patel Fight proves he can be a pretty damn cool action star if he wasn't so damn hipstery. Though I do like the song "death to all hipsters" from the final fight with Gideon's Cronies.

and finally before I get to pointing out the movie's flaws I have to mention the Special effects. none of them are super in your face like many Hollywood movies, but they're the subtle things like the RIIIIIIIIIINGGGG coming out of the phone or the various other subtle jokes like that. I was laughing hysterically at these the first time and since then they just tie the movie together perfectly.

Cons:
Ok, Even though this is my all time favorite movie, I've seen it so many times it's developed flaws. first off. Knive's Age.

In the scene when Scott breaks up with Knives, she mentions inviting him over for her birthday party. That would make her 18. yet later in the movie her little popup subtitle says 17 still. I'm counting that as an error, even though I'm pretty sure that those Subtitles are from Scott's point of view and he still sees her as a 17 year old.

Stacy's derpy eyes.

Ok, and the big issue I've hit is the Ex Boyfriend/Exes lines. Ramona consistently reminds Scott that it's Exes instead of boyfriends. yet when Roxy shows up she says 'I didn't think it would count' she knew it counted because she always corrects him. plus she literally has a laminated card with her name on it. I know its probably just for dramatic reasons, but, still it's an error.

Ok those are more nitpicky than anything else. I guess I'll actually say something serious. I've always felt like many of the sets felt very bland and set like. It's my only real gripe about it. but even that fits in with the theme of the movie.

Final Notes: 
What more can I say? I've loved this movie from frame one. It's been in my top movies for probably 5 years and I will always recommend it to absolutely anyone.

FINAL VERDICT: 100
Holy shit a perfect score.


Ok, so that was probably a bit unfair. Let's face it I knew from the start that was going to be my Rating. I should retro review some not so amazing movies.

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