10. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
I wanted to start with Scott Pilgrim because I thought it really gets to the heart of what this list is about. Scott Pilgrim is the kind of movie where I don't believe I can trust my opinion because it is so heavily designed for my generation and demographic. I really love this film, but I have a feeling that in ten or twenty years I will look back with a warm nostalgia; valuing only the fact that it spoke to me at this time in my life. In the end that is what this list is about; it is a current portrait, not some objective statement of fact that will stand the test of time.
The character of Scott Pilgrim makes almost every bad decision possible and yet I find him infinity relatable. At times he is oblivious, but the character is most interesting when he knows what he should do but does not because of wanting to avoid as much social stress as possible. That mixture of self aware and reluctant I believe to be one of the most accurate observations the movie makes about early twenty somethings. Sure, there have been and always will be heroes who resent their quest, but in Scott's case he resents all difficult decisions in all aspects of life. While the traditional reluctant hero resolves the conflict and moves on to his or her end goal, In Scott's case growing up and accepting responsibility is one of the main narrative conflicts in and of itself. Maybe I am over-thinking it, but it seems like the film focuses on this one aspect of the traditional heroes journey and stretches it out large enough to constitute all of the other parts of the journey.
Aesthetically the movie is great. It borrows so heavily from comic iconography but it just works. Normally I think when adapting something into a different medium you should work to that mediums strengths instead of trying to fuse the original into this new creation; but in Scott Pilgrim it just works. The fight scenes are kinetic and exciting. The more somber relationship scenes slow down but maintain the design focused compositions replacing kinetic dynamism with strangely realistic jittery movement in placid environments. The music in the film is fitting and fun; that said I don't know much about music so I will refrain from saying too much about it. Suffice it to say I really like the music.
Lastly the writing. All of the characters are well drawn and have just enough depth to be interesting. I enjoy the humor but I have a feeling that may change; rapid quirky bits of dialogue seem to be pretty in right now and I have a hunch that they will not last long. Time will tell. Similarly, I enjoy the video game reference based humor, but at the same time I have a fear that in a few years it will just come off as gimmicky and obtrusive.
Above all I find the film entertaining; I am never board when watching it. This is, I think, the thing that I value most in a film. I have seen some bad or mediocre movies and enjoyed them because taken bit by bit they are entertaining. Likewise I have seen some really technically good films, well shot, good writing, good direction etc, but ended up damning them with faint praise because they were not entertaining. All that said, I don't think boredom during a film is necessarily a bad thing; it can be used in interesting ways.
I'll close up here with two thoughts. First, expectations seem to be an important element in this list. I didn't have too high of hopes for Scott Pilgrim as a film and as a result maybe I am praising it too much since it exceeded such low expectations. Second, I am happy with this choice for number 10, as half way through writing this article I began to have second thoughts about whether or not I really like the film. This is what usually stops me from doing this kind of thing but in this case I believe it to be a good thing, or at least an interesting thing.
