Is 'Scott Pilgrim' the aesthetic of the future?

By Sarah Sluis

This Friday, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World will open and with it, viewers will be introduced to a new film aesthetic. Throughout the movie, words like "Kaboom" show up on the screen, characters get another chance by grabbing a 1UP extra life, video game-inspired voices shout out achievements like "double

combo" and the camera is placed so we see the characters at a vantage point that suggests they are in a video game. And did I mention that when characters die they are replaced with piles of coins for the winner to collect? What's more, the movie doesn't limit itself to video game references: In one scene, star Michael Cera gets laughs from a sitcom audience as he riffs on "Seinfeld," and fantasy-inspired touches also make their way into the film, including trippy dream sequences and doors popping out of nowhere that lead to new worlds.

The director, Edgar Wright, whom FJI interviewed for this issue, last directed Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Both comedies got laughs from their playful approach to their respective genres (horror and cop movies), but in the interview Wright is "adamant that those films are not spoofs, but rather grand homages to movies that [he and frequent co-writer Simon Pegg] both genuinely adore." Indeed, Wright's work seems to create something new and better out of his understanding of how these genres work, not something derivative.

In his review of the movie, our critic Frank Lovece placed Scott Pilgrim in the "magical realism" category, a style in which fantasy-type things happen in a world where these events are not viewed as strange but simply accepted as part of the story. He points out that in (500) Days in Summer, there's a moment where the lead character suddenly becomes part of a parading dance troupe that celebrates his newfound love. In that movie, just as in Wright's, there is no cue that moves us in between the real world and the fantasy world.

So perhaps Wright's contribution to movies will not necessarily be video game-style techniques, so to speak, but a willingness to incorporate fantasy without putting fuzzy edges at the edge of the frame. Certainly he's not the first person to do this, but his use of non-diegetic music and images within the story is all-encompassing and goes on for the entire length of the movie. It was new enough that, sitting in theatre, it took some time for me to absorb the fact that, yes, this is the way Wright is going to tell the story--and he's going to do it the whole way through. And despite the mild eye strain and frenetic (but fluid) pace of the movie, I admired the movie.

And, because it's entertaining, here's Jason Schwartzman and Michael Cera wreaking havoc on the morning TV weather forecast while promoting Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.