Not So Long Ago… in the Mysterious Land… of San Diego…
Well, it was actually quite some time ago. 10 years ago, in fact, when I got to experience Scott Pilgrim vs. the World in quite possibly the 2nd best circumstances possible. At a packed Balboa Theatre, in San Diego, on the 24th July 2010, with an audience packed to the gills with geeks, chomping at the bit to see the film. (The best circumstances would have been the night before, when Edgar Wright had, Pied Piper-like, led a group of fans from the film’s Hall H Comic-Con panel, to a screening, followed by a gig by Metric. We hadn’t made the cut.)
To say I loved the film would be an understatement, and not just because it was introduced by most of the cast and the director himself, or that I watched it with the most receptive and interactive audience. I couldn’t wait for the world to fall in love with this film, and for it to come out in Malaysia so I could see it again on the big screen, but alas it wasn’t to be.
Let’s back up.
Not So Long Ago… in the Mysterious Land… of Toronto, Canada…
Prior to that Comic-Con trip, I hadn’t actually read Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel about the Toronto based bassist, who has to defeat American émigré Ramona Flowers’ seven evil exes in order to continue dating her. The involvement of Edgar Wright, director of some of my favorite things ever, like the TV show Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, and Hot Fuzz, marked this as a must watch. A fantastic trailer that showed off the film’s alchemical mix of action, VFX, and music, only added to the excitement.
What I was expecting was a decent, comic book adaptation. What I got, was the best synthesis of video-game, comic book, and movie culture ever. Something that no one has really come close to since.
Up until around the 30 minute mark, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a pretty fun, slacker movie with an amazing array of references to videogame culture. Right from the off, with it’s 8-bit version of the Universal Pictures logo and chiptune theme, followed by the opening bars of theme to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, this was a film that truly got video-game culture, but didn’t pander to it.
Every Mario sound effect added, every Final Fantasy bass line earned, wasn’t included as a sop to the fans or simple memberberries. They felt fully integrated into the lives of these characters, like young Neil’s ever present Nintendo DSi.
And there were so many.
Okay… Let’s Start With Launchpad Mcquack…
Almost more than even an animated film, every second, every frame of Scott Pilgrim feels lavished with care and attention. After 5 minutes you can become lost in the pop culture and videogame references, the barrage of clever camera tricks, and the subtle-ish sound effects added in the background for emphasis. I’m not saying that every director doesn’t agonize over every single frame of their films, but with Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Edgar Wright made everyone else look, well a little lazy.
Wright managed to marry video-game style graphics, fight choreography inspired by everything from anime to Hong Kong classics, and cutting edge special effects, often in a single scene or frame.
But it’s at that 30 minute mark, when Satya Bhabha’s Matthew Patel turns up and KO’s your expectations, where the film really hits the nitrous. A moment that sticks out for me: Patel manages to get in a lucky one-two punch on Scott, resulting in the letters “SMAK” appearing behind Scott’s head, before Scott is punched right through them, shattering the letters.
It’s the perfect cinematic realisation of comic book panels. The real genius, however, comes in the next shot, when, from above, you can still see the fragments of the letters, drifting to the ground like petals, as Scott and Matthew fight through them. It is such such a small detail but the film is littered with them.
Scott, If Your Life Had a Face, I Would Punch It
Wright also assembled an amazing cast whose brilliance has only been proven by their later endeavors. He managed to include not one, but two Marvel Captains (Chris Evans and Brie Larson), a Superman/Legend of Tomorrow (Brandon Routh), and a Gorgeous Lady of Wrestling (Ellen Wong), as well as a host of other young stars like Anna Kendrick, Alison Pill, Aubrey Plaza, and Kieran Culkin as the brilliant, fantastic, amazing Wallace Wells.
The entrance of Chris Evan’s evil ex number 2, Lucas Lee, remains one of my favourite gags of any film. It literally works on so many levels. His entrance is accompanied by the full Universal Pictures theme, which he cracks his neck in time to. His portrayal of the perfect stereotype of an action star, of the type he would then go on to redefine as Captain America. The ludicrousness of the titles of his films (Action Doctor, Let’s Hope There’s a Heaven, Thrilled to be Here, and You Just Don’t Exist) and his hammy film lines, are capped by his weird aside to Ramona of “he seems nice” after flinging Scott through the air into the side of Casa Loma.
Likewise, Aubrey Plaza found the perfect outlet in Julie and her in-universe censor bar conjuring.
And then there’s Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Ramona, and of course, Scott Pilgrim himself, Michael Cera.
Let He Who Is Without an Awkward Breakup, Throw the First Dragon Punch
Scott Pilgrim is an asshole. He starts the movie dating a high schooler, Knives Chao, (he’s 22) then cheats on her with an apparent manic pixie dream girl, Ramona, before breaking up awkwardly with Knives, and stumbling blindly through his relationship with Ramona.
He’s pretty much a terrible person, but throughout the film, both he and Ramona are forced to confront their past mistakes, which is pretty much what everyone who dated in their 20’s does.
Ramona is not just a manic dream girl. She’s a woman trying to find her way in life after multiple past mistakes.
It’s important that the final step that empowers Scott to defeat Gideon Graves, the head of the League of Evil Exes, is not that he learns the power of love, but the power of self respect. At that point in his career, Cera was the perfect choice to play that role, a seamless blend of annoying yet relatable. He has to learn to love himself before he can commit to any path where he has an impact on others.
As Ramona, Winstead was dazzling in a role that could have easily devolved into just another manic pixie dream girl, but she adds what depth she can in a movie that very barely scrapes past the Bechdel test.
You Should See ‘Em Live, They’re Much Better Live
With so much happening it can admittedly get a little wearing. I had thought that the film’s energy seemed to flag a little by the time we get to the Katayanagi twins fight, but rewatching it recently, it’s just mirroring Scott’s feelings. The battle itself, between the twin dragons of the Katiyanagi’s sound system and the physical manifestation of Sex Bob-Omb’s song Threshold as a Yeti, while old school stereo graphic equalizer inspired visuals fill the screen, is almost too much for the brain to handle.
I’ve not even mentioned Nega Scott, the Vegan Police, bi-furious exes, “Bread makes you fat,” Todd Ingram punching the highlights out of Knives’ hair, the soundtrack, or the repeated shaggy hair/stupid hat gag. I could write a whole article on just the film’s opening credits where each actors name is accompanied by visual elements reflecting their character.
Scott Pilgrim vs the Real World
The highs of that Comic-Con screening weren’t to last. Against its $85–90 million production budget ($60 million after tax rebates) Scott Pilgrim vs. the World grossed just $31 million at the U.S. box office (with a $10 million opening) of a worldwide total of $47 million.
It marked a high tide for the Comic Con movie, with studios being less willing to chase the buzz at San Diego only to reap tepid box office results later. There was, however, another small, comic book movie franchise, who’s cast members also assembled on stage at that year’s Comic Con for the first time, that seem to have done okay for themselves. A little team from Marvel Studios called The Avengers.
Perhaps the film’s failure was down to its timing. The teens who were presumably the film’s target market would have been born in the 90s and missed many of the references. As a 30-year-old geek at Comic Con, who plays video games, and still writes about movies 10 years later, I loved it, but I guess there just wasn’t enough of us.
Even Edgar Wright himself said it might have been too “out there” for mainstream audiences when we got to talk to him years later.
After the U.S. box office results, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World quietly slipped from the Malaysian cinema release schedule. I wouldn’t be able to experience it again until the DVD release at the end of the year.
A recent rewatch confirmed that it’s still a high tide mark for that era, my era, of geek culture. Even later films that tried to target similar markets, like Spielberg’s Ready Player One, couldn’t hold a pixelated candle to it.
Its “failure” marked Scott Pilgrim vs. the World for membership of that club of cult classics that weren’t appreciated on release, along with Blade Runner, Big Trouble in Little China, or Mallrats. Only with far better “graphics.”
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World turns 10 years old this year, and is currently available to stream on Netflix.
Scott Pilgrim vs the World.
112 minutes
Director: Edgar Wright
Writers: Michael Bacall, Edgar Wright, and Bryan Lee O’Malley
Cast: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Jason Schwartzman, Chris Evans, Brie Larson, Brandon Routh, Alison Pill, Aubrey Plaza, Johnny Simmons, Ellen Wong, Mark Webber, Mae Whitman, Keita Saitou, and Shôta Saitô.
