Praise4Media #68 - Scott Pilgrim vs The World (Scott Pilgrimage Final Level)

The journey was long and annoying, but now you get to see what it’s really about: The Destination. We conclude our Scott Pilgrimage with a look at Scott Pilgrim vs the world: The Film

At the helm here is Edgar Wright, who you might remember being the director of Baby Driver, I film that’s almost impossible for me to rewatch given the current allegations against the lead actors. His history at this point was Simon Pegg comedies, and everyone loves Hot Fuzz, right? Can’t say I’m a huge fan of it, honestly but… 

Wright is writing (ha) alongside Michael Bacall, who’s last writing project at this point had been a german comedy called Booker, which launched in 2003. The film started pre-production not long after the first volume came out, with Bryan Lee O’Malley involved at least as a consultant on the film, giving notes on his intended plans for later volumes.

That said the final volume of the book was released only a week before the film came out, and the colour editions didn’t come out till until 2 years later, so they were not used beyond the occasional notes in the final film. It’s also possible the film’s casting inspired some of the colours from the colour editions, as colour could only have been implied in Black and White. It’s also true that the film actually helped inspire some of the creative choices for volume 6, though not in the way you might expect.

Scott Pilgrimage Levels 1 - 6 (The Comic)

Dark times are upon us, I hope solace can be found in whatever media you’re consuming whether it’s dark horror like The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina or dumb comedy like Some Assembly Required, or intense violent action like… what’s going on outside your window. And whilst holding people accountable for their heinous actions is important, time must also be spent reflecting. On that notion, I invite you on a little journey, a Pilgrimage, a Scott Pilgrimage.

Yes, I took that title because Dominic Noble didn’t, sue me!

Scott Pilgrim may be known to some as the Edgar Wright movie, but before that, it was a series of graphic novels written and drawn by Brian Lee O’Malley. They were released in 6 anime style volumes between August 2004 and July 2010. As we begin the Rage4Media summer hiatus, I thought it a prudent time to give my thoughts and feelings on each volume before concluding with a review of the film. Unlike a certain Adaptation critic, I’m going to try and review the comics independent of the movie adaptation. I’m using the colour editions for this review because it was Black Friday and my family wanted to buy them as Christmas presents, the colourist is Nathan Fairbairn.

So let’s begin our 7-part journey with Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life.