Director: Edgar Wright

Starring: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Alison Pill and Jason Schwartzman

Rating: ★★★★★

Scott Pilgrim is currently celebrating a delayed 10^th Anniversary. It was close to perfection when it first came out back in 2010 and it’s still just as close to perfect in 2021. Way back when Scott Pilgrim first came out, comic book movies weren’t cool. Avengers was yet to come out. The Marvel cinematic universe only had 3 films out, Iron Man (1 & 2) and The Incredible Hulk.  The world didn’t know that in less than a decade the biggest films in the world would be superhero films. It wasn’t a surprise at the time that it passed under most people’s radars and made a huge loss at the box office. Regardless of financial success, nothing like Scott Pilgrim had ever been done before and nothing has quite reached it since, in terms of re-creating the style of a comic. It’s great to see that over the last almost 11 years, people have discovered Scott Pilgrim and it has quickly been re-evaluated as a modern classic.

Based on the series of graphic novels by Brian Lee O’Malley, Scott Pilgrim Vs the World, blends the worlds of pop culture, video games, music and comics together to tell the story of the title character, played by Michael Cera, and his relationship with Ramona Flowers, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead. So they can continue dating, Scott must defeat the league of evil exes who want to control the future of Ramona’s love life. Directed by Edgar Wright with a screenplay co-written by Wright and Michael Becall, this film captures everything that is great about the comic and presents it in one of the most stunning films ever made.

It is strange, funny and full of personality. Straight from the opening titles it’s loud and in your face. It has recently been remastered into 4K and shown again in cinemas, with a 4K Blu Ray release right around the corner, and it couldn’t look or sound much better. It’s hard to imagine that you can improve on such a recent film, but the whole thing is so crisp and stunning. The bright colours jump of the screen and the sound pops out of the speakers.

It’s during the opening titles that you will notice how many people are in this film, who have gone to become big stars in the last decade. Chris Evans and Brie Larson would both go on to become superheroes in the MCU. There’s Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Alison Pill, Brandon Routh alongside Michael Cera and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. It’s hard to imagine that when this film first came out, I didn’t know who most of these people were, and yet over the last decade I’ve seen them pop up in some many movies and TV shows.

Every scene of this film is perfection and every shot is amazing. You could pause it at almost any point and there is a poster. It’s stylish, full of nods to pop culture, especially games. The visuals of this film are simply stunning. The way it adapts a comic on screen, using panels and words on screen is brilliant. The whole thing flies by, without a dull second throughout its almost 2 hour run time. It is one of the best films ever made.

The music is excellent, with most of the film revolving around Sex Bob-Omb, Scott’s band as they try to make it through Battle of the Bands to get a record deal. The music is great, with a soundtrack that you will want to listen to for a long time after the film has ended. One of the best things about the music, is that the actors learnt to play their instruments, so there isn’t that strange miming thing that you see in most films, where you can tell straight away that they aren’t actually playing the music. It looks real, feels raw and sounds awesome.  

If you haven’t seen Scott Pilgrim, then now is the time. It has never looked better and you will be in for one hell of a treat. It’s a story about moving on from your past, having confidence in yourself and the time in your early 20s where you don’t know what life has in store for you. It’s incredibly funny, with consistent jokes that always land. It’s full of relatable characters who you will fall in love with. I can’t recommend this film enough, and if you have already seen it, watch it again. It is also worth reading the comics, if you haven’t already, they are also excellent in their own right.