We’re currently reading Bryan Lee O’ Malley’s “Scott Pilgrim” comic books and we must admit, they’re kind of a hoot and a riot.
Director Edgar Wright (“Hot Fuzz,” “Shaun Of The Dead”) has been posting small hinty, half-revealed/ cropped photos of the actors on his myspace page, but in the last two days, he’s revealed three cast in full unencumbered glory.
Starting at the top left we have Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Tarantino’s “Death Proof”) who stars as Ramona Flowers, the too-cool, aloof American girlfriend of Michael Cera’s Scott Pilgrim character. To her left is Satya Babha who plays Matthew Patel, the Indian hipster ex-boyfriend of Flowers that Pilgrim has to battle and defeat if he wants to continue being with her.
Lastly, above is Ellen Wong who plays Knives Chau, Scott Pilgrim’s ex-underage high school girlfriend who gets dumped for Ramona Flowers and then seeks revenge. Does “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World,” sound convoluted? From the outside, we’re sure it kind of is. We didn’t know what to make of it until we read it and now we’re pretty much fully on board. It’ll be curious to see how this fantastical comic-book translates visually into live-action though.So far it seems if they pull it off, this movie ain’t going to be cheap and a lot of visual effects are going to be needed and this is where it could go wrong if they try and scrimp (and it sounds like the action sequences aren’t going to be “animated” either). The film will probably be a lot of whip pans, fast cuts, and whirling camera moves, but don’t worry, it’s not the “Matrix,” that’s just in certain moments for comedic effect.
To get a better gist of what “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World” is about think video game culture. Much like Super Mario Brothers or any basic video game premise, the protagonist wants the Princess, but has to go through many levels and battle some major force at the conclusion to keep on with the conquest and to reach the final goal. ‘Scott Pilgrim’ is pretty much the same. The young, dumbass slacker Pilgrim (Cera) is in love with Ramona Flowers (Winstead) and to keep her as his girlfriend, he has to defeat her seven jealous ex-boyfriends that all have various fighting super powers. Obviously the film is going to be heavily stylizied and video game culture pervades it. When boyfriends are defeated — much like video games — they disappear in a puff of smoke and coins are left behind for Pilgrim to collect (and use to take the bus home, heh). There’s tons of hitpoint-style concepts, ratings and on-screen titles that describe the characters, i.e.:
Wallace Wells
Erstwhile roomate of Hero
25 years old
Fun Fact: He Is Gay
All this might just make you think, “god, this sounds so terrible!” and truthfully, this is how we felt at first too, but the ‘Scott Pilgrim’ series is a really fun, wry and comedic take on teen life seen through the filter of video games and smarmy indie-rock 20-something culture — something you know we’re not too easy on if it’s remotely executed poorly. ‘Scott Pilgrim’ sounds like it’s probably a 2010 release too. The cast so far is stellar (folks like Aubrey Plaza, Kieran Culkin Alison Pill, Mark Webber, Chris Evans, etc.) and the soundtrack — music is also a heavy component — already boast synth rockers Metric and the inclusion of Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich is some undisclosed capacity (we’re pretty sure he’s curating the soundtrack for Edgar, they’re bff).