An Epic of Epic Epicness?

Let me just tell you how good it feels to read something with “Pow!”s and “SPLOOSH!”s in it,  after such a long time.

Point proved? Moving on..

I’ve been wanting to read Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim series for a very, very long time – and now that I have, I can’t stop raving about it. I’m going to do the predictable thing and ask you to read the books before you watch the movie, because IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

Ahem.

Okay, to be honest? Watching the movie after is a little disappointing. The movie reduces Scott Pilgrim to being just some guy (whose life happens to have awesome video-game like properties) fighting The League/Guild Of The Seven Evil-Exes in order to be able to date his new new girlfriend – Ramona Flowers. I hated how I kept going, “But THAT bit! Where’s that bit??!” and, “Oh, come on! You can’t just leave it at that!” – but the truth is, I need to stop grumbling and realise how it really is difficult to compress six volumes into a two-hour movie. Keeping that in mind, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is really quite good. I’m not as thrilled with this as I was with how well Watchmen translated on screen, but Watchmen is in a league of its own, and I shouldn’t compare.

Actually, I shouldn’t be comparing the movie and the books, either. Okay, then. Let’s do this! (Cue theme song)

SCOTT PILGRIM – The Books

Plus Points:

• The characters. Scott, Kim Pine (she’s my favourite), Wallace Wells (second favourite).. All of them, really. +20
• Illustration. Excellent. +10
• Turning a “Boy-meets-girl” formula into something enjoyable. +10
• HILARIOUS. +20
• Being something I can’t help but love, even after all the hype. BONUS:+30

Negatives:

• Last two volumes felt a little rushed. -5

Overall: 8.5/10

SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD – The Movie

Plus Points:

• Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim. Brilliant. +20
• Kim Pine still kicks serious butt. Thank you, Alison Pill. +10
• Translating “POW’S!” and “SPLAT’S” onto film. Not easy. So many things could go wrong, and they got everything right. +15
• Striking a balance between staying true to the books and coming up with witty new stuff so that it still has something to offer. +15
• Making me laugh for two hours straight.  BONUS: +30

Negatives:

• Being shorter than the book (Sorry, couldn’t help it) a.k.a The Parts That Went Unexplained, Thus Reducing Value Of Epicness. -15

Overall: 7.5/10

Final verdict. Do I really think you should read and watch this?

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