Roger Ebert once wrote of Luc Besson as a high school kid with fantasies who was instantly allowed to become a film-maker. I recall him striking a rather derogatory tone. Personally, I don't think such a comparison is necessarily a bad thing. The same could be said for Edgar Wright, and I thought his direction of Scott Pilgrim vs the World was inspired!
I think people past a certain age won't appreciate this film (namely those in the years more advanced than 30). A harsh generalisation, but true methinks. That's not being derogatory, compared to the seemingly emminent Ebert, but just a matter of fact.
The movie's aesthetic and feel draws heavily upon the computer games of yore: the MIDI based music and tones (particularly the rather ingenious opening!), the Mortal Kombat/Tekken-style beat-em-ups, and the stylishly ultra-violent confrontations that never yield a single drop of blood, but rather points and coins (an obvious reference to Nintendo's Super Mario!). It's all very 80s and 90s. In common with that particular genre is the frenetic visuals, the uncontainable energy and verve that dominate and dictate the action and the story. If you can get past this initial onslught, as well as accept the various trappings of the 'comic-book'-come-movie style, Scott Pilgrim is a movie that becomes very hard to dislike!
At the heart of this conflation of genres is a fairly linear storyline - perhaps a little bit of a piss take for action movies/martial arts movies during the same period. Boy loser likes a girl, and girl likes him back. But in order for their relationship to materilise, boy has to earn it by passing through various levels ('defeating girl's seven evil exes'!). This inevitably leads to the ultimate boss at the end!
My only misgiving about the movie was that dramatically, there was some potential for the protagonist (and the protagonist's Chinese teenager girlfriend for that matter) to become an evil ex themselves, thereby perhaps repeating this fairly warped concept. But the movie is far too neat and convenient to further explore that territory, for fear of alienating it's target audience. Instead of complicated plot, the movie compensates with colourful and interesting characters, who in their comic bombasticness contribute to a satisfying and entertaining genre pastiche.
Scott Pilgrim is no genius of a movie to say the least. But it's neatly directed. With great and quirky visuals, a few stereotypes, deliberately over-exaggerated characters, it's jolly good fun for 80s and 90s computer game nostalgia, and nerds who never got the girl. I really liked it!
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