Much anticipated Scott Pilgrim vs the World arrived in cinema's last week and I was very much in the mood for something light and mindlessly entertaining, something to fill the gap left by Kick Ass.
So the story is a simple one. Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera playing the sort of role in which he is quickly becoming typecast*) fancies hair-colour changing Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) but in order to carry on dating her he must defeat her seven evil ex's.
It's a love story punctuated by fight scenes of a comic-book style complete with some Batman-esque 'word-effects'. From the opening with the Universal Studios logo done in the very old blocky computer-game style to the villains disintegrating into a pile of coins, director and co-screen writer Edgar Wright's tongue is firmly in his cheek.
Such touches that give the film it's quirky computer game/comic book feel could quickly become annoying but they are imaginative and amusingly done.
And it is stuffed with some really funny lines and great, larger than life characters - I particularly like Kieran Culkin as Scott's gossipy, gay room mate.
Despite being his first big American film it still feels enough like a Wright production to satisfy fans of Brit flicks Sean of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and even his TV series Spaced.
So did it live up to the hype? Well yes and no. I did really enjoy it as quirky, fun, popcorn flick but it strayed a little too close to becoming formulaic about midway through, redeeming itself in the final third. Maybe it was a slight victim of the hype but after a long, hard-fought fight, I'd say Kick Ass just pipped it on points.
* Fighting aside, I dare you to spot the difference between his performance in this and that of say Juno
Professional views:
Helen O'Hara at Empire Online gave it five stars concluding: "It’s heartfelt, hilarious and a highly satisfying adaptation of the book. You don’t have to be a geek to adore it; you just have to remember being young. But one word of caution: Hollywood, don’t try to make a hundred of these. It won’t work."
Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian gave it four stars out of five: "My only reservation is that Wright could have afforded to relax a little more, to take his foot off the pastiche-pedal and give his comedy more breathing space. Having said that, this is an entertaining and distinctive display of technique, an exhilarating demonstration of film-making IQ."
Metacritic gave it an aggregated review score of 69/100 based on 38 reviews while it's average user rating based on 179 ratings was 8.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes UK gave it an aggregated review score of 81% (89% when just taking top critic reviews)
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