Hmm. Okay.
Scott Pilgrim sucked. I'm a big fan of the graphic novels, and absolutely none of their spirit, wit or charm comes across in the plonker of a film. Many major themes...arguably even primary themes...are completely abandoned, so the film can focus on the colorful video game and geek culture allusions. Significant characters have their roles vastly reduced, and others have their roles inexplicably expanded (Knives, most particularly). Cera is dreadful as Scott, playing him as a cringing, socially awkward dork (shocking, I know) instead of the charming, affable slacker he was in the books. The pacing is atrocious, as could be expected given how much material is being crammed into the short running time, resulting in long story lines being cut into a few tiny scenes, losing much if not all of their depth and resonance. Most criminally, the film often fails at comedic timing...some scenes and lines are lifted directly from the book but come across extremely flat on screen.
Seriously, I could go on and on. I generally enjoy Edgar Wright, but this is not a good outing for him, and it's not a good movie, period. I see people list it as one of their favorite films from time to time, and I'm honestly left wondering what the fuck those people are thinking. I do understand that everyone has their own favorite things for their own personal reasons, but I don't expect to see "Dude, Where's My Car" in a lot of top ten lists, and I'm just as shocked when I see Scott Pilgrim in there.
It stinks.
Seriously, it's really, really bad.
