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Scott Pilgrim vs Gen Z : A look at why this story gets so much hate these days.

Once upon a time in a land called Canada, there lived a writer named Brian Lee O’Malley. He wrote a fantastic 6 part series centered around 23-year-old Scott Pilgrim: Rating: Awesome. A movie was made, but it’s more of A-Cliff’s Notes, as movie adaptations usually are. Edgar Wright did his thang here, but as to be expected I highly recommend reading this 6 part opus to get the whole story. There is so much character growth across this series that not a single character is the same person as they are at the beginning, that this should be considered one of the great “coming of age stories”… so why has it been getting so much hate lately?

Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life (Volume 1) was released almost 20 years ago in 2004. It was a very unknown black and white manga-esque volume that was printed and published by Oni-press. Following that, a new volume was released almost yearly, I’m looking at you 2008. To Reminisce one more time, I remember the movie coming out one week before the last volume, Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour, and I was hesitant to go see the film on opening weekend, but at the time I was a radio morning show host and that movie was expected to be HOT so my boss sent me to go see it. I did not argue and brought my good friend Wes. We both loved the movie and I was even more in anticipation because I needed to know how different the end would be. Wes loved it so much he drew me a one-panel comic of us watching it.

Not too long later a digital download-only video game was released and that brought so much fun that when the distribution license ran out, it became one of those games that everyone asked “Why can’t I buy this game I remember playing”. Eventually, Limited Run Games heard our cries and convinced Ubisoft to renew their license and the game came back as both a very limited physical release for collectors and a digital download for Playstation, Xbox, and Switch.  If you are a fan of our Twitch, you may have caught my Valentine’s Day stream where Rachel and I played through the entire game in one shot. It was done for the 10th anniversary of the game and movie and the fans were having a hay day. This was 2020 and things were great. Okay, that was a big lie, but we don’t talk about 2020 anymore, or what it did to hurt us.

So last week, I’m on a break at work and decide to look at the “suggested articles” offerings on my work computer’s news and weather add-on. There were several articles about how “Toxic Scott Pilgrim and all His Supporting Characters” were and one about how “This Movie is too Random and Doesn’t Make Sense” I dont remember the specifics but by the time I started the third article, my break time was over and I was saying some real angry things to my computer screen.

First off, this is a comic book movie, you’re supposed to suspend your disbelief and enjoy the ride. Second, if you missed the part where these characters live in a video game world, that’s on you. Also, if you didn’t notice the character growth here, which is much more minute in the movie, that’s kind of the real point of the story. With that off my chest, I just gotta ask, How could anyone hate this movie? I get that some of these characters are what’s called cringe nowadays, but most of them end up in a pile of coins on the floor. No harm done. The special effects were revolutionary for the time and still stand up today. The music was very on point and to be honest, better than what I imagined these fictional bands sounded like. Quentin Tarantino of all people gushed after the premiere of this movie and gave his stamp of approval, calling it cinematically revolutionary. The movie is unapologetically its own monster, and this monster is hungry.

Yes, I agree, that Scott Pilgrim Vs The World: The Movie is very 2010, and saying it’s one of the best movies of that era isn’t much of a prize, but if anything, it’s worth a watch to form your own opinions. Just look at the cast, almost everyone has blown up since then, especially future MCU heroes Chris “Captain America” Evans and Brie “the other Captain” Larson. Even Michael Cera does something other than being awkward, I mean he IS awkward in this, but it’s not the whole time and he does do a decent job at being the unexpected hero, who many see as a villain. I personally love this movie and would give it a recommendation. I still don’t see why all the hate is going around lately.

Let me know what you think in the comments below. What did you like or dislike about the movie? Have any other thoughts about Scott Pilgrim that you’d like to discuss, do it below and I’ll use the Subspace highway in Scott’s Brain to meet you there.

 

 

 

By Josh Shaver

One day Josh was just brought into existence and hes been crushing it ever since. Josh has a vast knowledge of all things Gaming, pop culture, and Entertainment. His expertise are in Horror, Wrestling, Comic Books, and the 80's. He probably knows where the beef is and has several Skeletor action figures.

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