As the theme song to “The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past” cues the beginning of the movie, “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” leaves very little as to guess what the main influence of the movie will be. That being said, I find that a movie that flows upon video game references and format to not only be the first of its kind, but long overdue.
The movie’s hero, Scott Pilgrim (played by Michael Cera), meets the girl of his dreams and forgets about his current girlfriend, Knives (Ellen Wong). Pilgrim then must fight his way against evil ex after evil ex in epic battle scenes to win the right to date Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). With each battle, the relationships between Scott, Ramona, Knives and his band take a new turn. What ensues throughout the movie shows that lessons in life, love and self-respect are the main themes.
The game winning shots for “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” are the fight scenes—and we are not talking about raw and gritty ones like those from “Fight Club.” Fights in this movie are fast-paced and draw ideas of what life would look like as a video game, since weapons are drawn from nowhere and characters level up after battle. Scott’s gay roommate Wallace (played by Kieran Culkin) provides some comic relief from all the action.
Videogame culture outside of online communities has become one of the pillars of entertainment; the Nintendo era (those born in the early 80s) becomes shadowed by the late Super Nintendo and early N64 generation. With a large enough audience that understands the many gaming references and style integrated into Scott Pilgrim, we see what will most likely be the spearhead of more films featuring this styling.
This movie is also the perfect date movie, since every woman was blushing and declaring that she wished men fought over her like they did for Ramona. This was followed with every guy excitedly yelling about how Scott defeated a specific ex during the incredible fight scenes. Either way, both parties win.
When I think of movies I would have loved to have made when I was in high school, this tops the list. As an adult, I find this movie on a level that still fully entertains me, and for the older couple who sat in front of me, this movie left them with smiles and comments galore as the packed theater emptied into the lobby.