When you think of a comic book movie, you usually think of Marvel or DC or even technically Star Wars if you're a nerd. No-one ever tends to think of the indie comics like Invincible, which was recently adapted into a show by Amazon, or the hit Netflix series adapted from the comic written by every teenage girl in 2003's dream man, The Umbrella Academy or the comic the movie I want to discuss here Not so long ago in the mysterious land of Toronto, Canada.... Bryan Lee O'Malley was writing a comic book Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life was the first of six graphic novels telling the tale of Scott Pilgrim, a jobless 23 year-old bassist who after what he thinks is a totally unfair break-up, decides to date a 17 year old (Yes this is our protagonist. Yes he's a total creep. This is addressed). This series was highly regarded for it's tongue-in-cheek humour, surprisingly emotional plot and amazing representation, especially when you remember that this is the early 2000s we're talking about. The series went on until the 6th and final book was released in 2010, Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour, which just so happened to be the same time when a British comedy writer was making his next project Have you ever wrote a movie and a comic book while jumping through the air? Edgar Wright is one of the most highly regarded comedy writers in the UK, famous for his snappy dialogue and impressive camera work. Today he is known for movies such as Baby Driver, which managed to make over 7 times its budget in the box office and went on to win 3 academy awards, two BAFTAs, a golden globe award and numerous others. However, in the early 2000s he was known for the British sitcom, Spaced (Starring his longtime friend Simon Pegg) and the first movie of the legendary Cornetto trilogy, Shaun of the Dead (also starring Simon Pegg... Yeah there's a bit of a pattern here. After Shaun of the Dead released and became a critical success, he was contracted by Universal Studios to create a movie adaptation of the recently released Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life, an idea that O'Malley hated the thought of but agreed to anyway because he was "a starving artist" and in need of money. Wright called the book "irresistable to adapt" after he read a pre-release copy. Can we get to the movie itself already? Yes, we'll talk about the movie itself now. Scott Pilgrim vs The World released in 2010 and due to the books success, it became an instant smash hit.... is what you'd think i'd say. Instead, the movie was a box office bomb and barely grossed half its budget in the box office which was unfortunate as it was something that hadn't really been seen before (or since, lets be honest) , a live-action adaptation of a comic book that still felt like a comic book. Of course, today, the movie is a cult classic and is beloved for its unique take on the comic book genre but unfortunantly, this wasn't the case in 2010. Are you reviewing it now? Yes, im reviewing it now, calm down. Scott Pilgrim vs The World is a comic book movie that is entirely unique. Thanks to Wright's use of jump-cuts and the video game-esque graphics used throughout the film, it felt as though you were watching an actual comic book. The soundtrack is also interesting as it mostly consists of indie rock songs from bands such as Plumtree, Metric, T.Rex and of course, Beck. It also wrote original songs for the in-movie bands, most prominently the main band of Sex-Bob-Omb, which makes sense as one of the main plot elements is a battle of the bands competition. My own worst enemy Every hero needs a good villain, and in Scott's case, it is his evil clone, Negasco- wait.... Negascott isnt a prominent villain and only appears as a gag? Oh... Well lets just talk about the exes then. Oh okay then... Seven little kisses Scott's main goal throughout the movie and books is to date Ramona Flowers, the pink/blue/green/teal/a different colour every 3 weeks haired mystery girl from America he met at a party. But to do this, he must defeat the League of Evil Exes, Ramona's 7 most evil ex partners. Sadly, the first six arent very fleshed out and are mostly just there as obstacles before the main villain and the leader of the Evil Exes, music producer Gideon Graves. Gideon being the most evil is foreshadowed all throughout the story as he is mentioned in the background or his logo appeares or just the number seven or seven of the letter X (Hence the title of this segment). While the lack of character is unfortunate and a diversion from the books where the exes all have their own stories and sympathies (hinting at the revelation of Scott and Ramona not really being the best people despite being protagonists), the movie still gives them all moments to shine. My personal favourite of which featuring the third ex, the superpowered vegan, Todd Ingram (yes, veganism gives superpowers in this movie. No, I dont know if thats realistic) where he is arrested by the Vegan Police (This clip is shown below). However, this lack of villain establishment and the last chapter's seemingly random presence leads me to probably my only flaw with this movie
Wait... who are you again? So many characters throughout the movie are cut down to at best, cameos or at worst, background roles. One of the most notable of which is Allison Pill's character of Kim Pines. In the book, Kim is integral to Scott's eventual redemption and what causes him to see what he did wrong and defeat Gideon in the end. In the movie though, she's just kind of.... there. She doesnt do anything significant and all of her character roles are explained by other people, for example, how she is Scott's ex and their relationship didn't end in the best way, which is told to us by everyone but Kim. The same goes to the rest of Sex-Bob-Omb and as I previously stated, the evil exes, even including Gideon and Scott himself. The passage of time is also dropped dramatically in the movie from over a year to only around a week or two, which drops the suspence of things such as Ramona leaving dramatically and makes the original ending of Knives (18 in the book, stil 17 in the movie) feel even more weird and gross. These, however are likely a result of changing from a 6 book novel series to a movie thats less than 2 hours long. However, this is probably my only flaw with the movie. The representation part For a movie from the late 2000s, Scott Pilgrim has a surprising amount of gay representation. For example, one of the main side characters, Wallace Wells, is a gay character without being an overtly feminine stereotype. He also is significant to the plot as he advises Scott and helps him train for his next battle. Also the 4th evil ex, Roxy Ritcher, is a canonical lesbian and confirms that Ramona is either bisexual or bi-curious. A lot of the relationship is cut from the book, however (e.g. Stephen Stills' boyfriend from the end of the book), but this doesnt erase the good representation that exists. The L-Word Ill be honest... This isnt the best movie ever. There are so many far superior movies to it, realistically. However, its still my favourite movie ive seen. Why? Because its unique and fun and does something different to other movies of the genre. It adapts the book as well as it can in the timeframe while also incorporating Edgar Wrights fantastically outrageous writing and cinematography. The positives of this movie outweigh the negatives of it tenfold and make it great. It deserves its status as a cult classic and I hope it remains as a timeless hit that somehow flopped. No matter what anyone says about it, no matter if its not perfect, I still lesbians this movie.
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