An Awesome Ultra Combo
Actually, I can do this post simply with mumbling “awesome, awesome, awesome…” Let say…200 times for the film and another 200 for the soundtrack. And I guess it could become such a word-effective piece of presentation, since everything will be covered with that single word…For me at least.
Hmm…Okay, where should I begin? Scott Pilgrim vs. the World—with the seemingly illogical scenes and frames here and there—might look kinda absurd or at least vague. Yet that style is the perfect wrapper for the pure-fun elements. What elements? There are this and that in the movie: the presence of comical comic book tone (no surprise since this film is an adaptation of a novel graphic series with the same title, Scott Pilgrim), classic arcade battle games taste (which reminds me to old arcade game such as Street Fighters, Mortal Combat, and the likes), unexpected and nonsensical (if not immature) surreal gimmicks (but, hey, it’s a teen movie tight?), and off course, the cool great sounding scores and songs that feel so fresh, youthful, raw, and…indie. So, all in all, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is one hell of a movie.
Now, here comes the ultimate fun part. The soundtrack! When I said Ultra Combo, I’m kinda mean it to combine the fighting game style assimilated in the movie and the awesome tunes in the soundtrack that come one after another.
Some of the blasts sequence of the combo comes from The Sex Bob-omb, the fabulous band of Scott Pilgrim himself, with their ear-blowing and body-shaking songs. They have something that I’ve been craving for so long: crucnhy, raw, vintage garage sound. Too bad, this band is merely fictional, so to have their new stuffs would mean waiting for sequel of the movies. The next hit is from Plumtree, an indie rock band from Canada, which has more or less similar sound characteristic with The Sex Bob-omb. What a great guitar sound! Then comes the psychedelic beat of Black Lips, which with their O Katrina, this Atlanta band sounds like something come from The Ed Sullivan Show.
There’s also a fabulous ballad from London’s T-Rex, a glam rock band of the 70’s. Metric, amazing new wave rock indie band from Toronto, gives their contribution with an amazing up-beat dance rock number. The milder part of the combo is also presented by Broken Social Scene with their haunting dreamy number. Another garage punk blast is brought by Blood Red Shoes, a great a-girl-and-a-boy two-piece band from Brighton (England) that I hope could fill the “empty space” left by the “late” White Stripes.
The other sequence of this amazing combo is made by bigger names. There is one number from the Rolling Stones in the soundtrack. Though Beck only contributes one song (in two versions), he wrote all songs played by The Sex Bob-omb. Here, Beck really show his capacity as a great musician and songwriter. Another big name in the soundtrack is Frank Black aka Black Francis. Francis is the frontman of the great and legendary Pixies, the band that could be said as the biggest influence for the 90’s music scene, and in I Heard Ramona Sing we still could hear that Pixie-ness.
So, there it is. The double Ultra Combo of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, a great movie and an awesome soundtrack.
