Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Director: Edgar Wright

Cast: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jason Schwarztman, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick, Kieran Culkin

Genre: Comedy

Year: 2010

This film showcases Wright's superb directing ability as well as his unique editing style, linked in with a funny storyline which subverts the stereotypes of a boy fighting to get a girl.


By 2010, Edgar Wright had proven to world that he is one of best, upcoming directors working to date with the hugely successful comedies 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Hot Fuzz'. These made up two of three films in his Cornetto Trilogy (the last being 'The World's End' in 2013) and 'Scott Pilgrim vs. The World' comes in between all of this. 'Shaun of the Dead' was an excellent zombie spoof comedy and 'Hot Fuzz' similarly was a great cop spoof comedy. With 'Scott Pilgrim vs. The World', Wright spoofs the rom-com genre which might typically see a boy trying to fight for his girlfriend through different situations.
Here, Wright employs the use of a video-game style reality where Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) must defeat his new girlfriend's, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Seven Evil Ex's.
Scott lives with his gay best friend Wallace Wells (Kieran Culkin) and is part of a rock band, Sex Bob-ombs, who are desperate to boost their fame through any way possible. Scott has found himself in the awkward situation of dating a 17 year old Chinese student named Knives Chau (Ellen Wong) who is head-over-heels in love with him and Scott reluctantly tries to maintain their relationship. This ultimately fails when he meets beautiful new girl Ramona Flowers, literally the girl of his dreams.
When they eventually get into a relationship, Scott finds himself in a terrifying situation where he must defeat, through combat, Ramona's Seven Evil Ex's.

This major plot line is what essentially drives the film. Through some way or another, Scott ends up confronting the Ex's one by one. This helps reveal more about Ramona's enigmatic past which is also an excellent way of handling any exposition. Most of the Ex's have some kind of supernatural ability which sustains the spoof aspect of the film. Whether this means spawning Demon Hipster Chicks or being able to confuse their opponent with several stunt doubles, these hilariously unexpected powers keep the film from becoming too serious and make the action even more thrill packed.
The film smoothly keeps the humour running throughout it at all times. The humour might take the form of some inplausible actions by a character or just some brilliantly done script writing; however, Wright expertly uses his editing skills to create humour. His editing technique here is really unconventional and fantastically unique, something very few directors seem to incorporate into their films. Because it is so different, it makes the film much more enjoyable to watch and expands on the film being somewhat a parody of a video game.

The acting is exceptional as well. Moving away from the comedy duo of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost that starred in 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Hot Fuzz', Wright uses Cera as his protagonist who is marvellous as Scott Pilgrim. He really brings his character to life, which with the help of the masterful screenplay, creates great depth to his personality. This is the same for most of the protagonists which helps them become instantly likable, unforgettable and makes the film all the more enjoyable.
The antagonists are performed in spectacular ways, all of them having unique personalities, defining them from the others. This keeps the action refreshing and exhilarating, as well as maintaining the funniness of the film. The antagonists also become unforgettable in this film and most of them are explored with clever uses of exposition. A few of them take the form of a comic book look, a homage to the source material which is actually a graphic novel.

This film essentially is able to show what Edgar Wright can achieve on his own (without the help of Simon Pegg, who influences the script in the Cornetto Trilogy). It shows how his ideas are brilliantly unique and his screenwriting is witty and hilarious. Wright has defined himself as one of the best directors of the present day.

Verdict: 9/10