How does Scott Pilgrim vs. the World exist outside of the context that created it? Once upon a time, the Edgar Wright film was the surrealist love letter to both geeks and hipsters: a pitch-perfect amalgam of the pop culture heavyweights that dominated the 2010s. That it also managed to deliver a new cinematic language, with sweeping visuals that redefined a comic book movie’s capabilities, was just the cherry on top. Most Millennials are happy to herald it as one of the best (and most quotable) films of the 21st century, but as our world evolves, it seems eager to leave Scott Pilgrim and his precious little life behind.
Scott Pilgrim feels less like a cult classic and more like a guilty pleasure today. Outdated jokes and some decidedly unfeminist themes have since scuffed a once-flawless reputation. On its 10th anniversary, critics questioned whether we’d outgrown the title character entirely. A few months later, Netflix teamed with Wright and Bryan Lee O’Malley, creator of the original graphic novels, to update Scott Pilgrim’s story through a more PC lens. Everyone seemed to agree that the saga didn’t exactly align with our modern-day sensibilities — and for better or worse, they weren’t wrong. But, at the risk of being not-woke-enough, does it really need to?
