Scott Pilgrim is a comic that really is a product of its time and of its place. It’s canadian and very much feels from Canada. And while it does feel like it takes place in the 2000s, in a way geek culture became cool in the 2010s makes it feel relevant in a different era than the one it was conceived in. This comic book while very famous hasn’t had the best luck in its adaptations, they’re both decent takes on the source material but falter for different reasons.
Scott Pilgrim vs the world
You can tell it’s a mid/late 2000s movie, it exhibits that era so much it’s great, it works like a time capsule. And yet the movie came out at the wrong time, I feel had it come out a couple of years later it could’ve been so much more popular. This movie lives in a world where geek culture is cool and it was just ahead of it’s time. Tons of great video game references that are not too blatant. They don’t obstruct the movie or feel too pushy like they did in shows and movies later on. The plot is just different and not a normal plot, so it’s entertaining.
Looking back it has a lot of big name actors doing fun roles, some were already big others would not for a while. it’s a very different movie, unique in its own vvay, it’s fresh. It does feel like a messed up version of post high school. oozes style, music is good, plot is odd all good. perhaps not the greatest adaptation of the comic but this movie began production before the comic ever finished so it had to take plenty of liberties.
Scott pilgrim takes off
This cartoon has lots of style, feels like the comic despite being called an anime. So much in fact that I wish it was an actual adaptation of the comic. The whole remix angle is kinda neat but I wish we had the actual story done first. You don’t make the first Ninja Turtles cartoon the Last Roning. It’s a cool AU story but first you need the original story to understand why the changes are interesting.
A huge missed opportunity since the style was there. I do think it needed to be a bit more quirky . It’s great ot get the new background on many of the characters and the extra spin they get. I mean it’s an interesting what if story so I can’t not recommend it. It still makes you upset that we couldn’t get an adaptation first. Esepcially since it requires knowledge of the original story to actually enjoy it fully. It’s a weird odd choice for a rather unknown franchise for the most part.
Scott Pilgrim The Game
The game felt more fresh when it came out, or perhaps it did because I didn’t actually own it and there was a lack of beat-em-up games. It uses the art style of the comic in a pixelated look which fits Scott Pilgrim. The game has a lot of style and references although if you are not a big Scott Pilgrim fan a lot of great beat-em-ups have come out in recent years making this one perhaps not as great as it once was in comparison.
The three adaptations are good in their own right, but they all lack something to make them feel worthy of their cult status. I still hope we get one day a faithful adaptation of the comic taking cues from the best elements from the previous adaptaitons.