“Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World:” What’s Right With it? Everything

“Scott Pilgrim” is such a great film, and that is a total understatement. It recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, and despite not doing so hot at the box office, it became a massive cult hit over time. I didn’t personally discover this movie until about 2018 or so, but I am so glad that I did. As an adaptation of a series of graphic novels, which were themselves sassy love letters to Canada, video games and punk-ish indie rock, this film had a lot to live up to. Fortunately, Edgar Wright (“Hot Fuzz,” “Shaun of the Dead”) helmed this project, and his style brought the bizarre universe of Scott Pilgrim to life.

“Scott Pilgrim” is very hard to explain, because there are a lot of characters and a lot of different facets to its story. The easy part to understand is that Scott finds himself at odds with his new girlfriend’s League of Evil Exes(™). This story isn’t here to tell you a compelling drama; it’s here to have flashy special effects, huge brawls, great rock music and absolutely absurd characters. And it does that fantastically, as every stand-off feels completely different than the others. The characters in this film are hilarious too - they’re all lacking in depth but have enough there to latch onto, which makes their comedic moments really hit hard.

It’s fascinating to me that the film’s climax gives a serious amount of emotional weight to these cartoony meat husks. After all that comedy and action, it turns out you’ve subliminally imprinted on these characters enough for it to be a legit gut punch. “Scott Pilgrim” encapsulates everything that’s great about games, action movies and angsty lovey-dovey movies, and I can’t wrap up all of THAT in my 300 word limit. So just trust me when I say this movie is what’s up, and you should go watch it for yourself!

Drew Hickman is a Junior

Communications Major from

Shawnee, Kansas