Edgar Wright, the director of 'Scott Pilgrim versus the World,' starring Michael Cera, at the 2010 Comic Con in San Diego. The director is know for mixing movie genres. (photo courtesy Gage Skidmore)
“Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” is about a young male protagonist , Scott Pilgrim, (played by Michael Cera) who must combat the girl of his dreams’ seven evil exes. The movie is full of visual quotations of favorite pastime video games, an indie rock soundtrack and amazing fight scenes. The plot itself borders on both cliche and unique at the same time. There are some unexpected twists in this young romantic comedy and action-packed film, and the movie seemed to get the credit it deserved during its run in theaters.
The British genre-mixing director of “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” gave the CUI the inside scoop on “Scott Pilgrim,” future plans and inspirations.
Although the director Wright was 10 minutes late, his suave accent and apologetic humor seemed to get him off the hook.
CU Independent: Were you always a fan of “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” comic books? If so what were your major concerns translating the comic book into the movie?
Wright: I just started reading it as soon as it was published in 2004. I read the first volume when it came out and, you know, I was already in conversation with Bryan Lee O’Malley—he wrote the book before the second one was published—and so we were already working on the film as he was writing.
I think very early on we figured how we weren’t going to be able to translate the entire book into the film and how to make the film different and stand alone as its own piece. And I just tried to involve Bryan with each step and there are great things in the book that are not in the film. My concern was really about getting the tone of the books across, capturing [Katayanagi] and how to translate that visual imagination to the screen.
CUI: What types of technical challenges and production considerations did the unique video game elements pose to you, the cast and the crew while filming?
Wright: I think I tried to make it very clear to the cast what we were making, and on the Blu-Ray you can see a test film that we shot back in July 2008, and that was really a way of showing the studio what we were after and also show the cast what exactly we were going to make.
I wouldn’t say the video game element proved anything of a challenge because that was kind of a surface layer. But there were technical challenges getting the fight scenes down. Nobody really wears any masks in this film, so it made the execution of the fight scenes overly ambitious because [viewers] actually see the actors in the fight frequently. [The actors] all trained for a very long time and it made those scenes incredibly meticulous and painstaking. That was definitely the biggest challenge.
CUI: The movie seems to have a lot of references to many things geared towards a younger generation. To what degree do you identify with the generation that you portrayed?
Wright: I feel like I identified with it a lot, which is what attracted me to the books. Scott Pilgrim particularly, I felt like I’d been a lot like him when I was a teenager. And I feel, in terms of the kind of the passions of the characters—a lot of people made comments about it being a very young film and being so very contemporary and maybe not appealing to anybody over 30.
So yes, I feel like I identify with characters. I feel like I’ve definitely been there, I’ve been like Scott Pilgrim and been a bit selfishly wrapped up in my own kind of bubble of existence when I was a teenager. So I definitely vibe with a lot of the books and that’s what attracted me to it.
CUI: What was your favorite fight scene to make during “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World?”
Wright: To actually shoot? Hmm, what’s funny is that they take as long to film as they are fast to watch. You know they’re very painstaking, and so it’s much more fun to edit than to get it together.
The one that I love watching the most—I mean, I like all of the fight scenes—but I think I like the one with the twins and the dragon, watching that finish, because it finished so late—probably about a month before the film. And so whenever I watch that one I’m always taken aback by just how much work into it.
It’s fun to shoot all of the fights, but they’re very painstaking. They’re incredibly painstaking.
CUI: So now that you’re done with Scott Pilgrim are you going to finish off the “Blood And Ice Cream Trilogy” and do the end of the world movie or just see what happens?
Wright: I haven’t really figured that out at the moment. Once I’ve done the promotion for this film, I’m going to get back into writing stuff and I have a couple of things I need to finish off, so it’s a matter of getting back to the drawing board, I suspect.
“Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” is currently out on Blu-Ray and DVD.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Emily Cavanagh at Emily.cavanagh@colorado.edu.
