Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
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Synopsis

Scott Pilgrim is a loser. This 22-year-old from the faraway land of Toronto, Canada has no job and no motivation outside of mooching off his "totally gay roommate" Wallace and playing bass for "Sex Bob-omb," a garage band that features his ex-girlfriend Kim Pine on drums (but they're totally cool now, he swears!) and he is quick to ignore when given the chance. Oh, and he's also dating a seventeen-year-old that's he's neither that into nor has he gotten to first base with, but won't break up with her because he's never gotten over Envy Adams, the lead singer of "Clash at Demonhead" that broke his heart.

One day, Scott quite literally meets the girl of his dreams. Enter Ramona Flowers - a mysterious girl from America who works as a rollerblading delivery girl for Amazon.ca and dyes her hair a new color once every week-and-a-half. Scott makes it his mission to win her heart. But things aren't always so easy, for as it turns out, the League of Evil Exes - a group comprising Ramona's seven spurned exes - is now coming to kill him. The only way he and Ramona can be together is for Scott to take on every challenger, without getting killed himself.

It's a hyperbolic metaphor for saving the princess, or going the distance for the one you love. Director Edgar Wright also considers it similar to his TV series Spaced, which is about young people living their lives with their ups and downs, and having the protagonists a bit nerdy. Much like Edgar and friends, the characters reference pop culture several times.

Visual Style

The visuals in the film are referential to the style of video games and comic books. A lot of physical attacks connect with a "THOK", "POW" much like the action denoted in old school and recent comic books, most notably Batman.

In the world of Scott Pilgrim, Scott levels up, gains powerups, and receives 1-Ups. Of course, these are all done in regards to video games, and on the big screen, they are translated in some of the most eye-catching, enjoyable visual effects of recent years. The best example of this would be in Matthew Patel's fight, where Scott pulled a reversal, a 64-hit combo (reference to the Nintendo 64), a K.O. and received coins for winning the fight. Many viewers say that it's like nothing before it, and makes the film unique.

A lot of music and sound in the books were denoted with sound waves and other flairs around the person emitting them, and while the movie actually has the sounds, these little flairs are still added in. When a character is playing bass, the notes would fly off the strings (except for Todd Ingram, who is surrounded by huge sound waves and levels), little streaks of lighting would emit from the bands as they play, and so forth. Neither the music or the visuals overshadow each other, so the viewer can easily take them in at the same time.

Sound Editing

The audio engineering was a big part of the production. A lot of the background noises, clicks and whistles are done in rhythm with music, as is a lot of the dialogue. Video game noises from such classics as Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, and Final Fantasy are used as punch-line clicks. These quietly denote importance in said lines and are mainly used for comedic effect. In the band scenes feedback is used in the same vein. Whip pans, instead of always being accompanied by a "woosh" noise, come in different noises related to what is going on in the scene; a coffee maker noise or a car passing by and honking, for example.

Reception

Critical

The film was heavily praised by critics for being fun, inventive, and creative. It has an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.6 on IMDB. The flaws pointed out by many critics are its often shallow characters, lack of character development, and its frenetic pace, which put off many viewers.

Box Office

Its tepid box office returns ($10 million first weekend, $5 million second) caused many to conclude that the film was a flop. Pilgrim raked in just over $46 million worldwide at the box office (a $13.5 million loss of its reported $60 million budget excluding marketing.) Many blamed the studio's confusing marketing campaign that had difficulty conveying what they film really was to moviegoers. Others blamed the film's attendance and interest at Comic Con as being a false indicator on how much buzz the film had. Since the film's release on Blu-Ray and DVD, many devoted fans have heralded the film as a cult classic.

Canada

America's best bro.

As of the second week out in theaters, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is gaining a lot of respect and love from Canadian movie-goers. This is mainly due to its apparent pride in taking place in Canada, denoting local landmarks like Casa Loma, Honest Ed's, Hillcrest Park, Pizza Pizza, et cetera. Scott Pilgrim creator Brian Lee O'Malley based all of the locations (most of them) in the book on local places from his neighborhoods from his youth (including Scott and Wallace's apartment), which Edgar Wright held dear in the film adaptation.

Character Tree

There are many colorful characters in the world of Scott Pilgrim, and it could be hard juggling them all around. Here's a little tree to help you know who is who and to whom.

Scott Pilgrim ( Michael Cera)

Awesome.

Wallace Wells - Roommates
Knives Chau - Used to Date
Ramona Flowers - Dating
Stephen Stills - Friends & Bandmates
Kim Pine - He's "friends" with her & Bandmates
Envy Adams - Used to Date, he's only just recovered from the "brutal" break up
Stacey Pilgrim - Siblings

Knives Chau ( Ellen Wong)

17 Years Old.

Scott Pilgrim - Briefly dated, but she's still in "love"
Envy Adams - Obsessed with her and her band "Clash At Demonhead
Young Neil - Sort of Dating

Ramona Flowers ( Mary Elizabeth Winstead)

Mysterious, American Ninja.

Scott Pilgrim - Dating
Matthew Patel, Lucas Lee, Todd Ingram, Roxie Richter, Kyle Katayanagi, Ken Katayanagi, Gideon Gordon Graves - Used to Date

Stephen Stills ( Mark Webber)

The Talent.

Julie Powers - Date on and off
Scott Pilgrim - In a Band
Kim Pine - In a Band
Young Neil - Roommates

Kim Pine ( Alison Pill)

Drummer. Kind of hates everyone.

Scott Pilgrim - He thinks they're "cool", but she holds a grudge, and is still hurt. They're also in a band
Stephen Stills - In a band

Wallace Wells ( Kieran Culkin)

Cool, totally gay roommate!

Scott Pilgrim - Roommates
Stacey Pilgrim - Gossipers
Other Scott: Lovers

Stacey Pilgrim ( Anna Kendrick)

"T" for Teen.

Scott Pilgrim - Siblings, she's only 18, but considers herself older
Wallace Wells - Friends and gossipers

Young Neil ( Johnny Simmons)

He's Young Neil.

Knives Chau - Used by her to make Scott jealous
Stephen Stills - Roommates
Scott Pilgrim - Friends and cover for bass if Scott can't play

Julie Powers ( Aubrey Plaza)

Has issues.

Ramona - Work related Acquaintance
Young Neil - Actively Dislikes
Stephen Stills - Date on and off
Envy Adams - Former college roommates

Michael Comeau ( Nelson Franklin)

Socialite of the Year.

Knows. Everyone. Even you.

Envy Adams ( Brie Larson)

Formerly: Natalie.

Scott Pilgrim - Used to Date
Todd Ingram - Dating
Julie Powers - Former college roommate

The Evil Exes:

It took 2 hours to get all of their contact information organized.

Ramona Flowers - Used to Date
Scott Pilgrim - Must defeat

Boss Battles!

MATTHEW PATEL ( Satya Bhabha) - Pirate, Bollywood Song/Dance Fan

Matthew Patel

Matthew kicks off the fight in the middle of a Sex Bob-Omb performance. Scott and Matthew fight for a little, with Scott mainly winning; he performs a Reversal and 64 hit combo. The two continue to fight again, until Scott asks Ramona about her relationship with Matthew's. She reveals that Matthew has mystical powers, and that they only kissed once. After some unintentional rhyming, Matthew breaks into song and dance, Bollywood style. He summons demon hipster chicks who shoot fireballs at Scott and the band. Scott reveals that Matthew sang something that didn't rhyme, and then hits him in the head with a crash cymbal. Scott pulls a K.O. on Matthew, who then is defeated. Patel blows up into coins, precisely $2.37, which for Scott, isn't enough for the bus (despite his initial reaction of excitement.)

LUCAS LEE ( Chris Evans) - Pretty Good Skater, Pretty Good Actor, and a Sell Out

Lucas Lee

After a moderately embarrassing date with Ramona, she and Scott go out for a walk, to meet Wallace at Casa Loma where a film is being shot. Unbeknownst to Scott, apparently the lead actor used to date Ramona. Said actor is Lucas Lee: pretty good skater turned pretty good actor. He immediately confronts Scott, knocks him down, and throws him into the castle. Scott is then left to fight Lucas' 8 stunt doubles, who Scott is actually able to fight off for a while. After a sneak attack, Scott is knocked down and mobbed by the stunt doubles.

Lucas goes to get coffee while the stunt doubles are taking care of Scott, but as he walks back, he sees that Scott took down all the doubles. Lucas and Scott charge at each other, and Lucas wins. Before he gets to finish Scott off, Scott asks Lucas to prove his skateboarding skills in front of the ladies. He convinces Lucas to grind down a "garbage", 200 stair-set rail. By the end of his grind, he is going too fast to live, and then blows up. Scott is delighted, but disappointed that he didn't get an autograph.

TODD INGRAM ( Brandon Routh) - Bassist of The Clash at Demonhead, Vegan Rockstar

Todd Ingram

Scott attempts to attack Todd right off the bat, but is thrown through a wall via Todd's telekinesis. Apparently, Todd has such powers due to him being a vegan, which makes him better than people. Todd throws Scott into the sky, and then through a wall again, after exchanging some awkward words. Scott then gets back up and challenges Todd to Bass Battle. Todd wins, and sends Scott through three more walls.

Before Todd can finish off Scott, Scott recommends a cup of coffee, which has soy milk in it. Todd doesn't "fall for his trick", and takes Scott's coffee, which supposedly has the soy milk, not half and half. Todd is actually tricked, and ends up drinking the one with half and half. Then, the Vegan Police break in, read off Todd's "three strikes" ticket, and then de-veganize him. Without his powers, Todd is vulnerable, so Scott headbutts him into a ton of coins after spouting a one liner that confuses Todd.

ROXY RICHTER ( Mae Whitman) - Lesbian Ninja with a Small Speech Impediment

Roxy Richter

Before this fight, Roxie actually sneak attacks Scott in public. Scott punches her in the boob, and she promises to come back and fight later, as Scott is too frustrated to fight then and there.

Later, Roxie attacks Scott again at the Clash at Demonhead after-party. Ramona then interferes, and fights Roxie herself with a huge, Amy Rose-esque hammer. After some weapon fighting, Roxie reveals that Scott has to defeat her with his own hands. He is reluctant, so Ramona fights Roxie using Scott as a puppet. After some fist fighting, Roxie separates the two, and knocks Scott down. As she is about "F him in the B", Ramona reveals that she has a weak point on the back of her knee. Scott pokes Roxie there. She pauses, collapses, and begins squirming and moaning telling Scott, "You'll never be able to do this to her." She then explodes into coins (Roxie orgasms to death).

THE KATAYANAGI TWINS ( Keita and Shota Saito) - Perfect, Japanese, Handsome Techno Twins

The Katayanaga Twins

The Katayanagi Twins, Kyle and Ken, happen to be the next band in the battle of the bands Sex Bob-Omb is participating in. The two groups battle it out in an "amp vs. amp" performance, where they both play at the same time. The two try to one-up each other, but Sex Bob-Omb gets knocked down after The Katayanagis summon double dragons through their music. Scott is determined to win, so he gets him and the band back up and running. Before the twins could attack with the dragons again, Scott summons a gigantic, vibrating Yeti through his distortion pedal, and fights the two dragons. The Yeti wins, and causes the two dragons to fall onto the twins.

Scott gets coins, and a 1-up after the fight.

GIDEON GORDON GRAVES ( Jason Schwartzman) - Indie Producer of the Year

Round 1

Gideon Gordon Graves

After receiving a phone call from Gideon, Wallace tells Scott to forget about letting it go and to "finish him." Scott heads straight to the Chaos Theatre. Inside he sees Sex Bob-omb playing and Gideon Graves sitting on his throne (literally a pyramid) with Ramona at his feet. By confessing his love for Ramona, Scott earns the power of love and a sick-ass samurai sword. Gideon sends his henchmen to dispose of Scott, only to be defeated easily and with class by Pilgrim. Scott whips his way up the pyramid to attack Gideon only to have the sword shatter in contact with Gideon's blade. Knives Chau shows up in time to save Scott from Gideon's from blow, but ends up attacking Ramona over breaking her heart by stealing "her" Scott. He quickly knocks Gideon off of the pyramid and stops the battle between Ramona and Knives, saying he cheated on both of them. However, Gideon comes up from behind Scott and stabs him with his sword killing Scott.

While in Scott's dreamworld, Ramona confronts Scott and reminds him of the extra life he just got after defeating the Katayanagi Twins.

Round 2
Scott reverts back to the entrance of the Chaos Theatre. He enters in the same fashion but rather apologizes to Kim and compliments on the newly shaped band. Then Scott admits that he is fighting Gideon for himself, thus receiving the power of self-respect. Again, Scott defeats Gideon's henchmen and attacks Gideon, striking his stomach with his sword, knocking Gideon down. Knives returns but receives an apology from Scott for cheating on her. Gideon challenges Scott again, the two fight with Knives stepping in to help out. After a lethal blow, Gideon destroys Scott's sword, but Ramona kicks him in the groin. Gideon hits her in retaliation knocking her down the steps of the pyramid. Knives and Scott then team up for one all-out assault, using their skills from playing Ninja Ninja Revolution, and end up severely damaging Gideon. The final blow is dealt when Scott kicks Gideon in the face making him explode.

NEGA SCOTT ( Michael Cera)

After Gideon Graves explodes into 7,000,000,000 worth of coins, Scott begins to hear the whispers of Gideon coming from his glasses. Scott picks them only to see the reflection of Nega Scott. Knives and Ramona are prepared to fight with Scott, but he tells them that he has to fight Nega Scott on his own making them wait outside the Chaos Theatre. Scott later emerges from the front door chatting with Nega Scott, saying that he is actually "a pretty nice guy" and he mentions they were going to get brunch some time in the future.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation

Scott Meets Lisa Miller.

Because of the time restraints of the movie, certain key plot points that were covered in the Oni Press series were never included in the final script. One of these was the relationship of Scott Pilgrim and Kim Pine. This certain backstory was covered in a four minute animated short titled "Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation" that was featured in Volume Two of the series. It showed Scott Pilgrim as a transfer student in Northern Ontario, immediately getting beat up by bullies after arriving at the school for fifteen minutes. While in the principal's office, Scott meets Lisa Miller, another new student and the two quickly become friends.

Lisa suggests that to become cool they would have to form a band, but with only two members Scott remembers a student in his geography named Kim Pine, who plays drums in concert band. On Monday, Scott realizes his feelings towards the red haired Kim, and upon arriving at school he finds various students beaten up by the Benvie Tech boys, who also kidnapped Kim. Scott fights his way to the roof of Benvie Tech High School, confronting the evil Simon, who has Kim chained to the wall. The two clash in an epic battle (in the rain) with Scott emerging victorious by kicking Simon off the roof. He admits his love for Kim and asks her to be in his band. She replies by saying yes and the two kiss.

The rest of the segment shows the relationship of Kim and Scott growing and the times they share together, like playing in the band Sonic & Knuckles. However, Kim finds out that Scott is moving to Toronto, leaving her heartbroken and alone.

Major Differences from the Graphic Novel series (Spoilers)

Crash and the Boys play one more song, "Last Song Kills Audience", which knocks out the entire audience. In fact, a deleted scene shows that the song attributed as "We Hate You, Please Die" in the final cut is actually "Last Song Kills Audience;" "We Hate You, Please Die" is another very brief song in the vein of "I'm So Sad, So Very, Very Sad."
Evil ex Lucas Lee isn't actually shooting a movie at Casa Loma when Scott confronts him. He is also willing to let Scott live if he "gives him all his money."
There isn't a Battle of the Bands thing going on.
Lisa Miller is not in the film, but she is mentioned, and is in the animated short.
Todd Ingram is actually cheating on Envy with the drummer of Clash at Demonhead, Lynette Guycott in the novel. Also, Lynette is the one who punches Knives.
Crash and the Boys (then The Boys! And Crash) help Scott fight Todd in the novel, and eventually Todd is busted by the Vegan Police without drinking the coffee. However, in the film Crash and the Boys don't appear ever again (as they are "killed" during the fight with Matthew Patel), and Todd gets busted after being tricked by Scott.
Mr. Chau, Knives' father, does not appear in the film and thus does not end up fighting Roxie.
Roxie's weak spot is actually Envy's in the novel.
Scott gains "the Power of Love" while fighting Roxie in the novel, not Gideon.
The Twins are essentially non-entities in the film, unlike the novels where they use robots to fight Scott.
Envy returns and is the one who plays the Chaos Theater's opening in the novel, not Sex Bob-omb.
Sex Bob-omb never signs to Gideon's label, and instead disbands in the novel.
Kim leaves Toronto before Scott's final confrontation with Gideon in the novel.
Nega-Scott actually fights Scott in the novel, and is actually the reason why Scott doesn't drink and forgets all his past relationships.
That whole "Gideon controls me with this computer chip" plot doesn't exist at all in the novel.

References

As is often the case in Edgar Wright's films, there are a lot of references to popular media and culture, such as those in to video games, movies and TV shows.

TV Shows

Seinfeld - Use of opening theme, laugh track and use of fridge/kitchen stall like Jerry's apt.
Arrested Development - Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) says "her?", concerning Roxie, who is played by fellow Arrested Development former cast member Mae Whitman.

Video Games

Super Mario Bros. - Soundbites are used in the background, and Sex Bob-Omb
The Legend of Zelda - Music and soundbites are used, and the game is referenced to being played.
Double Dragon - The Katayanagi Twins summon double dragons through techno music.
Half Life - Gideon is referred to as G-Man
Street Fighter II - After being hit by Lucas, Scott's voice echoes, and Roxie's voice is complimented by a Chun-Li soundbite.
Rock Band - Scott wears a T-shirt with the "bass" logo from the game Rock Band
Megaman - Lucas Lee's ringtone is a soundbite from the franchise.
Dance Dance Revolution - The game that Knives and Scott play at their local arcade, Ninja Ninja Revolution, is a parody of the hit arcade game Dance Dance Revolution.
The Clash At Demonhead - Envy Adam's band is named after said game.
Crash and the Boys - The first band in the battle of the bands other than Sex Bob-Omb, based on said game.
Sonic the Hedgehog - Soundbites are used
Tetris - Young Neil references playing the game
Final Fantasy 2 - Scott references the game blatantly
No More Heroes - Several shots in the final fight resemble the feel of the gameplay in Suda 51's No More Heroes

Anime/Manga

Envy Adams' look while performing seems very similar to Misa Amane from Death Note.
"Super Vegan" is an obvious reference to Super Saiyan from the DragonBall series.

Music

Plumtree – The title character is named after a song (Scott Pilgrim) from the Canadian all-girl band. The song is used during the scene introducing Wallace and the apartment, as well as the song "Go" during a day-date between Scott and Knives.
Budgie - Todd plays a riff from the song "Breadfan" during the Bass Battle.
Beck - Scott throws a Clash at Demonhead CD onto the CD racks, next to Beck CDs, and Beck happens to be the musical representation of Sex Bob-Omb.
Neil Young – The character Young Neil is a reference to the Canadian singer-songwriter.
Stephen Stills – The character Stephen Stills is named directly after Neil Young’s ‘Buffalo Springfield’ and ‘Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’ bandmate.
Smashing Pumpkins – Scott is seen sporting the Smashing Pumpkins ‘SP’ logo on his T-Shirt. He also wears Bill Corgan's famous "Zero" shirt. In an interview, creator Bryan Lee O’Malley said that Scott is probably unaware of this and most likely purchased the shirt because it has his initials on it.

	Michael Bacall	Screenplay
	Edgar Wright	Screenplay
	Bryan Lee O'Malley	Graphic novel series

	Scott Pilgrim vs. the World International Trailer Now with more boob punching and Canadian hipster love!
	Scott Pilgrim vs. Lucas Lee Fight Scene Scott faces down Ramona's evil-ex Lucas Lee and his retinue of stunt doubles.
	Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Trailer #2 Ever wanted to watch Michael Cera get his ass kicked in increasingly effects-heavy ways? Then brother, does this new Scott Pilgrim trailer ever satisfy.
	Screened's Summer Movie Preview Alex and Rorie check out the 2010 Summer Movie Lineup.
	Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Trailer Defeat seven evil ex-boyfriends? That's easy. Once my girlfriend made me defeat twenty-five evil kittens. At least, I'm pretty sure they were evil.

review	Save Yourself and Don't Watch (0 out of 5)	SnowyMountain
review	review (4 out of 5)	ricardoga
blog	Survival of the Fittest: The Tricky Art of Adaptation	TheFantasticFillip
review	Utterly underrated (5 out of 5)	PlyrYaKA
blog	2011 Teen Choice Awards Predictions: Movies Part 1	jackanderson
news	Four Deep Cuts Open Up from Scott Pilgrim's Fictitious Band, Sex Bob-omb	No_name_here
news	2010: The Year in Box Office Bombs	Alex
news	2010: The Year in Movie Quotes	Alex

Name	Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
US Release	Aug. 13, 2010
UK Release	Aug. 13, 2010
AUS Release
Runtime	113
Language(s)	Add a new language English
Genre(s)	Add a new genre Comedy Adventure Fantasy Romance Action
Theme(s)	Add a new theme comic book martial arts magic robots
Rating	PG-13
Alias(es)

	Talkative Villains
	Unlikely Hero
	And They Lived Happily Ever After
	Nerdy Character Grows A Pair
	Nerdy Asian Character
	Slow Motion Dramatic Emphasis
	Worthless Henchmen
	10% of Brain Power
	The Manic Pixie Dream Girl
	Inspiratonal Speech
	Get A Hold Of Yourself!
	Love At First Sight
	Assassins are always Asian
	Evil Twin
	All Just a Dream
	Let's Dance
	New Girl, New Problems
	Pun-tacular
	Battle of the Bands

	Michael Cera	Scott Pilgrim
	Mary Elizabeth Winstead	Ramona V. Flowers
	Kieran Culkin	Wallace Wells
	Mark Webber	Stephen Stills
	Alison Pill	Kim Pine
	Ellen Wong	Knives Chau
	Jason Schwartzman	Gideon Gordon Graves
	Chris Evans	Lucas Lee
	Anna Kendrick	Stacey Pilgrim
	Johnny Simmons	Young Neil
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Domestic	$31,524,275
Foreign	+$16,140,284

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Domestic	$31,524,275
Foreign	+16,140,284

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) Add