Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Scott Pilgrim Versus the World is so hyper-stylized that if it were a girl it would be a Pointer Sister. That's not a bad thing; I know for a fact that millions of boys jerked off to the Sisters' Neutron Dance video, or, at the very least, one particular boy who masturbated millions of times. The thing is, as with hot rods, techno and the Martha Stewart Bath Collection at K-Mart, things with extreme styling elicit extreme reactions. I can't remember how often I've been in my local Super K and heard a woman scowling at mauve pillowcases saying, "That bitch needs to tone it down."

In Scott Pilgrim Versus the World, boyish-hipster-poster-boy Michael Cera is a bass player for an indie band who falls in love with a rainbow-haired, moody pixie (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) with serious coolness creds. The only problem is that in order to date Winstead, Cera must first defeat her seven evil exes. Each battle takes on comic-book exaggeration, such as a dance off, a battle with a vegan who has supernatural powers granted to him through vegan self-righteousness, twin Japanese deejays who conjure up dragons from their amp stacks. The League of Evil Exes was dreamt up by the seventh ex (Jason Schwarzmann), who is also Cera's band's best hope for getting signed to a record deal.

It's a nifty premise, played with something that I guess amounts to the hipster equivalent of magic realism. That is, people can appear and disappear from thin air, can read each other's thoughts, trample through other's brains, and can battle with amazing agility and skill. In other words, everyone acts the way the rest of us think we can after downing a warm case of Natural Ice.

Scott Pilgrim Versus the World taps the world of video games, comic books, hipster-hoodie fashion and basement-dwelling indie rockers for its references. It relies heavily on the ironic use of graphics from Street Fighter and its ilk of fighting games, which is cool in the "I recognize that" sense if you're a nerd in your thirties. The movie plays more like an homage to its comic-book roots than just about any other movie. The reason is because the action on-screen is accentuated with comic-book touches. Phones have "Rrrrring" coming from them. Other onomatopoeia are graphically illustrated, just like in the old Batman TV show. Scott Pilgrim isn't trying to elevate itself like some sort of fucking high-brow literature; it tries to be a comic book on the screen.

The movie's seven evil exes represent something bigger. That is, the baggage everyone brings to a relationship. In this movie, it's the physical manifestation of the fact that Winstead has been with seven others and each of them is something Cera isn't. I have been married to Mrs. Filthy a long, long time and yet I've still never fully convinced myself there isn't someone better than me that she'd be happier with in her past. I remember once, after reading a few Penthouse Forums, thinking it would be sexy to hear about her exes and what they did that turned her on. After she told me, I spent a week curled in the fetal position, wrapped in a flannel blanket, peeing on myself and crying until my eyeballs were chafed. I have since convinced myself, through self-hypnosis and heavy drinking that I am Mrs. Filthy's first and only lover, that she made up all that stuff about more handsome and virile men, and that she has nothing to compare my shortcomings and failings to.

I'm not into comic books and video games, but I can at least appreciate their aesthetics when well applied, so I thought the visuals of Scott Pilgrim were quite well done. They are over-the-top and a bit tiresome by the end. Generally, though, the movie does a better job of looking like someone was having fun than most comic movies, which think seriousness elevates the relevance. Edgar Wright, known for directing Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz has directed and co-written Scott Pilgrim Versus the World. He uses a lot of his old tricks: speeding up, slowing down, smash cuts and juxtaposition of images.

Wright partially gets good performances and it's nice to see Cera in action as opposed to moping. As the lead lady, however, Winstead is lacking in much personality. She has multi-colored hair and she looks sad, but that is about the extent of her. Cera is madly in love with her, but his lust didn't extend to me. The only thing I could think is that being attractive to a hipster is no deeper than any other infatuation, just based on other criteria. Rather than a redneck's confederate flag tattoo, a pair of Converse hightops work. Instead of a sticker of Calvin pissing on Chevy, a T-shirt with an ironic decal on it.

Scott Pilgrim Versus the World was enjoyable, though. Digging into girlfriend's past is always interesting, and seeing a comic book that hasn't beaten to a pulp by the screaming, imagination-free fanboys before it got to the screen is a treat. Three Fingers.