Although the cast of the movie came back to voice the characters in the animated show, if you are going into this expecting “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World” but animated, you’d be wrong. If you’re going into this expecting a journey of self healing through the lens of a “WHODIDIT”, then you’re really good at guessing because that is exactly what this is.
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off amplifies “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World” tenfold. The mystical video game aesthetics of Scott Pilgrim shine vibrantly in animation. The fact that this is episodic and not a film, you get to go that much deeper into each characters identity. However, the difference between the two is what makes this version so beautiful. Spoilers below…
In Scott Pilgrim’s first fight against Mathew Patel, one of Ramona Flowers’ seven evil exes, he is beaten and presumed dead. In fact, there’s a whole funeral scene with an Envy Adams musical number. It killed. Anyway, you find out not too long after that that he isn’t actually dead but kidnapped and that’s where the adventure begins.
Instead of Scott Pilgrim battling Ramona’s exes, it turns into Ramona questioning each one (with some very entertaining fight scenes sprinkled in) asking if they were the ones who kidnapped Scott and faked his death. Each ex comes forward with their own personal hurt from their relationships and/or separation from Ramona, eventually getting the closure that both the ex and Romana seemed to need for them to move on.
The final two episodes are a pretty big plot twist that only open up the world, making way for a well deserved season two and hopefully beyond.
From it’s lowkey meta comedy to its dreamlike environments, this series has fun with the rules of the universe it created. If you loved the comics, you’ll love this, if you loved “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World”, you’ll adore this and if you haven’t seen either, you will be awe struck and teleported into Scott Pilgrims world of surrealism.
P.S. The theme by Necry Talkie is top level J-Rock.
★★★★★
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off releases on Netflix on November 17, 2023.
