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okay so i think i first watched scott pilgrim vs. the world around... 2020? like either around the start of covid or before covid was even a thing so that was quite a bit ago. i decided to rewatch it because i recently finished reading the series, and since 2020 i’ve developed a more critical taste in movies (in short, i became a film geek). i forgot how good this movie is, especially as an adaptation of a beloved comic series. this blog is gonna be kind of long so i've split it up into two parts: the review of the movie and how it compares with the series. you'll probably only want to read one part because i don't know anyone who'd want to willingly read a 1400+ word review/analysis of some film that came out over a decade ago. here's a link to the section about the movie by itself and one to the movie vs. the books. (note, this part DOES have spoilers). as always, there's a tl;dr at the end. let's start!
"hey ross i've been living under a rock for the past century, and i have no clue what scott pilgrim vs. the world is"
scott pilgrim vs. the world is an action/romance directed by edgar wright that came out in 2010 and has been kind of a cult classic ever since. it features michael cera as scott pilgrim, a normal 22 year old canadian guy whose life takes a turn when he starts to have recurring dreams about a mysterious girl. this girl is ramona flowers (mary elizabeth winstead), a cool american who delivers packages and is literally the woman of his dreams. to date her, he has to defeat her seven evil exes first.
the movie by itself
my criticisms
honestly? i don't have a lot of bad things to say about this movie, so this section will be quite short. i will say that keeping track of the huge ensemble of characters can get confusing, but that's just because it's hard to cram six books into a single film. pretty much every character offers something to the story, whether it's important interactions with the main cast or humor or whatever, so i can understand why they didn't cut a lot of the side characters out.
i have to admit that the pacing does get a bit weird at points, but it doesn't affect the overall story too much. the only part i could consider an issue is how ramona's breaking up with scott develops, but even that's getting nit-picky. how fast it goes is something you only notice after reading the books. of course, i don't expect things to be the smoothest, considering how many fight scenes they have to pack in.
the story gets too convoluted for being under 2 hours. i feel like if this movie was even just 30 minutes longer, the side plots would have been able to develop a little more and be able to support the main story. unfortunately, these little developments are just the skinny pillars holding up the huge mass of the main plot. [SLIGHT COMIC AND MOVIE SPOILERS; highlight to read] i think negascott should have been cut out entirely because he comes out of nowhere at the end. there was nothing to foreshadow scott's darker side, and he's played off as a joke, which isn't bad, but he had no business being there in the first place!!! [end of spoiler warning]
oh and scott kind of speedruns his character development at the end of the movie but i'm not gonna rant too much about that. anyways moving on to the
the awesome parts
i love SO MUCH about this movie so i'm gonna start with my most favorite thing: the style. this is probably what every scott pilgrim fan will talk about first when discussing the movie, and for good reason! it's crisp, fun to look at, and iconic. the movie blends comic and video game aesthetics with the live action perfectly, and i'd even say it borders on camp with how exaggerated things get. from the onomatopoeias, to the action lines around characters, to the narration, to the experience points, all of it comes together and forms the perfect style for a movie based on the original scott pilgrim series. i can't think of anything that would make it better.
the editing is so fast-paced yet clean, it's amazing. the best way i can describe it is that every scene change feels like cracking open a soda can. i think one of my favorite parts is how the aspect ratio of the movie moves during scott's dream sequence.
can't forget about the music and sfx! it's also good and i just have to say that envy adam's rendition of black sheep is AMAZING. i like the parts sex bob-omb played, watching this movie made me want it to be a real band so bad. i also thought that the amplified sound effects for certain things (punches, the doorbell, etc) were cool.
the casting for this movie is top-notch and everyone's performance of their character was almost spot on. i'd say michael cera played scott a bit more mopey than book-scott, but i don't think it's a huge deal. i loved ellen wong as knives chau AND ESPECIALLY JASON SCHWARTZMAN AS GIDEON GRAVES. kieran culkin as wallace was actually perfect (i suggest watching succession if you liked him in this). i think it's ironic that chris evans was lucas lee because he ended up becoming the most famous out of everyone else in the cast LOL.
the movie vs. the books (LOTS OF SPOILERS)
soo i can't complain too much because, again, the movie condenses a 6 book series pretty well. i'm sad that ramona was the one who fought most of scott's battle against roxie, and that the ramona/envy fight never happened. i loved lisa miller as a character, but i understand why she had to be cut out of the movie. i also think that the fight between ramona and knives would've been awesome, and it would've given both of their characters more depth.
here comes one of the main things book fans hate the most about the movie... ramona's character. she's mostly stoic and aloof, which makes sense because the movie goes through every event in the comics at a rapid pace, but i wish she was just a little more silly! even a little sarcastic! she can be warm and playful, and it would’ve been nice if this side of her was portrayed more. also, i learned that edgar wright wanted scott to end up with knives rather than ramona, so that's also probably a reason why she was colder in the film.
now onto scott's character. he's just really pathetic compared to how he is in the comics. he can be whiny but he's confident, too. michael cera made him more of a soft shy boy, which is, i think, one of the most drastic changes from a character's book version to the big screen. every other character is at least similar to their original in some way or another, but scott only has a few similar traits to his comic counterpart.
subspace should've been utilized more, i feel like. rather than the weird microchip gideon has implanted into ramona, her having the glow would've made more sense and tied everything together. starting from scott having about ramona when it's just her traveling through his head, then going to the reveal that gideon having access to her head because of subspace and the glow and whatnot, it comes around full circle.
i've mentioned negascott before, and i just don’t like how his character is handled in the film. in some deleted scenes he makes a couple of appearances, and i think even those quick cuts to seeing him beside scott in a mirror would've helped develop his storyline. or, he should've been cut from the movie altogether! it's fine, lisa was cut and she was a main character in the fourth book!
the movie is honestly one of the best adaptations of a book i’ve ever seen. i’d say a good 75% of the dialogue is taken from the source material, and the characters and themes stay true to the series. the goal of the movie obviously wasn’t to recreate everything, but to emulate and tell the events of the story in a new way. i think it succeeded and went beyond that!
"too many fuckin words dude. tl;dr i just wanna know your summarized opinion of this movie"
so basically this movie is super amazing and everyone should see it once in their lives. i'd rate it 4.5 stars out of 5 and the reason i'm hesitant to give it that last 0.5 is because i prefer the book series. i think you'll love this movie if you're a nerd geek weirdo like me, so watch it if you're lame and proud. my favorite thing about the movie is how playful and comical the style is, and my favorite scene is todd and scott's fight ("gelato isn't vegan?" "it's milk and eggs bitch"). if you haven't watched this movie, i recommend reading the books first. if you don't plan to read the books, watch the movie (and THEN read the books because i swear watching it will make you want to read them). anyways it's a solid film, and it's on my list of movies i want to have on dvd.
note: i wrote this instead of doing my scott pilgrim book report...........yes i am doing a book report on scott pilgrim for school. what about it huh
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Sebastion
One of my top films! Edgar Wright has such an amazing style of comedy and cinematography
i agree!! edgar wright is one of my favorite directors
by ross; ; Report
I still haven't seen baby driver tho, but it looks really good
by Sebastion; ; Report