A comic book come to life

SPOILER ALERT With Jimmy Nichols

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World – A comic book come to life 

Whenever you mention comic book movies, people immediately think of Marvel or DC movies. They remember watching “Iron Man,” which started the Marvel Cinematic Universes (MCU), the X-Men films in the FOX Universe or maybe the new “Superman” movie. 

Most do not think of “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.” Most people I mentioned this movie to this past week had never even heard of it.  

The movie, based on comics released in the 2000s, bombed at the box office, only making $47 million on a budget of $85 million. However, years after the release, it has become a cult classic with a dedicated fanbase defending the 2010 film. 

It is not hard to see why the movie has garnered such a following with its amazing editing skills, deep cast and quotable lines. 

The editing in this movie is its strongest aspect. This movie is like a comic book page coming to life on the big screen. 

It shows the words on the screen during the fight, like “Boom” and “Pow,” and the soundwaves coming from the guitar when Scott Pilgrim is playing it. 

The movie also possesses a certain 80s arcade style. Throughout the movie, the audience sees arcade video game icons pop up like health bars, extra life icons and power-ups. 

The editing of this movie makes the fight scenes more fun, with not every fight having to be physical for the characters. 

While the editing is the best part of this movie, the cast of the movie is nothing to laugh at.

Michael Cera, Kieran Culkin, Brie Larson, Chris Evans and Anna Kendrick are just some of the actors who make up the call sheet of the film. 

Each actor helps contribute to the dry comedy in the film, with my personal favorite being Culkin’s character, Wallace, Pilgrim’s gay roommate. Wallace, throughout the film, has some of the best lines, constantly making fun of everyone on screen.  

One surprising thing is the number of scenes and lines that have remained popular since the movie's release. The most popular would be a line delivered by Chris Evans, which was trending on TikTok this past year: “That’s actually hilarious.” 

The plot of the movie is easy to follow as Pilgrim must take on the seven evil exes of his new love interest, Ramona Flowers, so he can be with her. Throughout the film, the audience watches Pilgrim become more discouraged after every fight, culminating with the final fight, where he does it for himself, not for her.  

It is easy to follow and does not overcomplicate things. However, there is one issue in the film that bothered me throughout the entire movie. 

At the beginning of the movie, Pilgrim, who is 22 years old, is dating Knives Chau, a 17-year-old high school student. 

Everyone at the start treats this as weird because it is, but when he cheats and breaks up with her to be Flowers, it is forgotten, though Chau remains an important character in the film. 

She is shown to be in love and obsessed with Pilgrim throughout the movie, and only at the end of the movie does Chau realize Pilgrim loves Flowers. She tells him to go after Flowers, and it is because she talked to him that he does. 

The writers or director could have easily made Chau one year older and out of high school, but apparently, this is more accurate to the comics the movie is based on. It makes some of the jokes easier at the start because she is in school, but the same jokes can be made if she had just recently graduated. 

While this movie has enjoyable moments, anytime Chau was shown on screen, it was hard to stay in the movie because the audience is reminded of this underage love interest every time she appears. 

“Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” is not the greatest movie ever made, and it does not claim to be.  

The editing and dry humor make it very enjoyable for the viewer, with the nearly two-hour movie flying by when you are watching it. The reason I watched it was that I had seen some of the funny scenes online, and it piqued my interest. 

If you like dry humor comedies, you will probably enjoy this film. This is not a film you should go out of your way to see, but if you are chilling at home on a weekend with nothing to do, it is a good movie to watch.