My Rating: 4.5/5

Official Information:
Release Date: August 13, 2010
Box Office: $49.3 Million ¹
Rating: 7.6/10 (IMDb)¹ 82% (RT)²
Audience: Teens and Adults, Rated PG-13 for ¹
Cast: Michael Cera (Scott Pilgrim) Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Ramona Flowers) Ellen Wong (Knives Chau) Kieran Culkin (Wallace Wells) Aubrey Plaza (Julie Powers) Brie Larson (Envy Adams)¹

Scott Pilgrim vs The World is a fun, action packed film that follows the bass player of an unsuccessful garage band. He’s never had any problem finding a girlfriend before, but after meeting the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers, he must defeat her seven super powered evil exes in order to date her.

The movie’s video-game like style and unique cinematography make for a fun experience, and really help the audience get inside Scott Pilgrim’s head. While it’s not a perfect movie, it’s certainly a creative and enjoyable one, making it surprising that it was a box office flop. However, in the past decade, it’s gained a cult following and received highly favorable reviews.


WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD


As the title suggests, the star of Scott Pilgrim vs The World is Scott Pilgrim. Except, Scott isn’t really a star. He’s the bassist in an indie rock band that’s desperate to sign a record deal, but can’t seem to achieve anything more than local fame. However, once he meets Ramona, getting that record deal is now the least of his worries. But the problem is his girlfriend, Knives Chau.

Knives is Scott’s sweet, excitable girlfriend, obsessed with his band, but mostly obsessed with him. The issue? She’s still in high school, much to his sister, Stacey, and his fellow band member’s disapproval. The other issue, Scott is slowly losing interest in her and falling in love with Ramona. The story of someone ditching their girlfriend for a love at first sight isn’t exactly the best message, but it pushes the story forward, and as Scott comes to sympathize with Knives, he’s not really a total jerk.



Scott Pilgrim vs The World features an ensemble cast. Scott and Ramona might be the main characters, but fellow band members Kim, Neil, and Stephen, along with his sister Stacey, roommate Wallace, and especially Knives add life to the film. None of the characters seem too similar and everyone has an important role in the story.

While the ensemble of protagonists is great, it’s Ramona’s 7 evil exes that truly make the movie great. They each have different powers and push Scott to his limit. The fight scenes are excellently choreographed, and the CGI is pretty much flawless.

Ramona’s first ex, Matthew Patel, takes Scott by surprise. Despite being evil, he at least had the courtesy to send a warning email, but Scott, distracted and dazzled by Ramona, ignores it. Interrupting a “battle of the bands” sponsored by the record executive Gideon Graves, Patel attacks Scott.

In the first battle, we get to see the characters' powers in action for the first time. You might expect this to be a movie about fist-fights, but the film’s unique style takes the fight scenes to the next level. Scott attacks Patel until he’s defeated, and Patel bursts into coins, gaining Scott points. Each of the battles Scott fights are unique, and while the idea of fighting to the death seems awfully dark for a comedy, the movie’s video game style makes it hilarious and less violent.

Next up is Hollywood star and skateboarder, Lucas Lee. His massive ego is his downfall as Scott tricks him into attempting an ultimately fatal skateboard trick. Next, Scott has a brief skirmish with Roxie, a Ninja seeking revenge against Ramona for ditching her for a guy. However, his next fight is with Todd, a super-powered vegan and bassist in a band led by Scott’s own ex, Envy Adams.

Brie Larson’s role as Envy is small, but I appreciated the cameo. Making it even better is the fact that Larson herself sang the rendition of “Black Sheep” by Metric in the scene right before Scott and Todd's fight.

Once Scott is victorious against Todd, he’s up against Roxie next. The fight against Roxie marks the midpoint of the film, and a turning point in Ramona and Scott’s relationship. While Ramona and Scott are able to win their fight, he confronts her about her dating history, leading Ramona to initiate a break up. Scott has almost defeated all 7 exes, but will it all be for nothing?



It’s around this point where the pace begins to slow down. Scott and Ramona’s relationship is struggling, but he’s still determined to defeat her 5th and 6th evil exes, the musical duo Ken and Kyle Katyanagi. It’s not long before the pace picks back up, as Scott defeats the Katyanagi at an epic battle of the bands, earning him an extra life. Despite Scott’s impressive feat, Ramona gets back with her final ex, Gideon.

The final fight is exciting. Seeking revenge against Ramona, Knives join the fight. While Scott is ultimately defeated at first, he uses his extra life to come back. This time, he fights for himself, not Ramona. Seeing Scott learn that his happiness shouldn’t rely on having a girlfriend demonstrates his character growth and is ultimately highly satisfying. Scott, Ramona, and Knives defeat the evil Gideon, and we get to see a well-deserved happy ending.

It’s kind of confusing why Ramona chooses to be with Gideon, but Scott’s final fight turns the stakes up a notch when it’s revealed that Ramona has a mind-control device implanted by Gideon. It explains her choice to ditch Scott, but the plot point wasn’t fully fleshed out, making it seem more like a convenient plot point than a genuine story line.

The same can be said about Scott’s resurrection. While it follows the video game theme of the film, it kind of seems like a cheat. However, considering how great the movie is overall, it’s easily forgivable. Overall, Scott Pilgrim vs The World is a great film. Its video-game-like style is creative and the characters are lifelike, making it a must-watch that holds up 14 years later.