Lost in Translation? What the Scott Pilgrim Movie Missed
Edgar Wright's adaptation of Bryan Lee O'Malley's indie comics stayed close to the source material, but what was lost in translation?
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By Sal Basile August 26, 2010 |
Meeting Knives Flashback
Appears In: Vol. 1
Context: A flashback of when Scott meets Knives on the bus occurs when Scott begins telling his friends the story.
Why It Was Left Out: To keep Knives appearing as an obsessed teenager, Wright probably wanted her to have as little back story and reasoning to be in love with Scott as possible. Showing a tender moment when they met may have turned Pilgrim into the bad guy.
Good Sex Bob-omb Songs
Appears In: Vol. 1
Context: Bryan Lee O'Malley was courteous enough to show us the lyrics and chords to Sex Bob-omb’s songs, including Launchpad McQuack.
Why It Was Left Out: Beck created some original music for Sex Bob-omb to play in the movie. Beck's songs sounded way better on the big screen, even though Sex Bob-omb is supposedly terrible.
Mr. Silly’s Shoes
Appears In: Vol. 1
Context: Scott’s first encounter with Ramona at one of Julie’s parties results in an epic fail. Before he ruins everything he compliments Ramona’s shoes, which appear to be Mr. Silly’s shoes. Mr. Silly is a book by Roger Hargreaves.
Why It Was Left Out: Wright inserted the scene of Scott and Knives playing a DDR-esque ninja rhythm game to introduce a few things to the audience (ie: Scott’s love for video games, Scott’s fighting abilities, and foreshadowing “Negascott”). To compliment this scene, Wright made Scott use the same Pac-Man story and fumble over his words.
Subspace Elaboration
Appears In: Vol. 1
Context: When Ramona delivers Scott’s CDs, she begins to explain Subspace Highways. Scott compares it to the Subspace of Super Mario 2, but Ramona says it's nothing like that.
Why It Was Left Out: Wright didn't dive too much into the explanation of Subspace in his adaptation. In the film, there are doors that Ramona pulls Scott through and then there is a scene transition. This might confuse some newcomers to the series, but gets forgotten about amidst all the action.
Scott’s X-Men Patch
Appears In: Vol. 1
Context: Ramona asks Scott what the “X” patch on his jacket is. Scott explains it is an X-Men inspired patch and inadvertently reveals he is a geek.
Why It Was Left Out: Wright plays off the “X” patch during the scene where Scott is being tormented by the thought of fighting Ramona’s evil ex’s.
Morph Ball Reference
Appears In: Vol. 1
Context: Scott wishes he could turn into a morph ball and roll to the bathroom instead of getting up. Ramona reveals she used to date a guy who could do that.
Why It Was Left Out: Wright kept the video game references to mainly recognizable franchises (ie: Sonic chimes, Zelda tunes, etc.). Metroid may have been too obscure of a reference for non-gamers to get.
Matthew Patel’s Letter
Appears In: Vol. 1
Context: After receiving no reply to his e-mail, Patel makes one more attempt to warn Pilgrim about their inevitable fight. Scott is uninterested and disregards the warnings.
Why It Was Left Out: In the interest of time, Wright probably thought one warning from Patel was enough.
The Crash and the Boys Briefing
Appears In: Vol. 1
Context: Twenty-four hours before the show at the Rockit, Stephen Stills goes over their opponents. He reveals the new drummer is an 8-year old Asian girl with A.D.D. She was found at the local mall playing Drum Mania.
Why It Was Left Out: Wright included most of this scene in the film, but put his own twist on it. Making Stills unprepared for the beast that is Trasha on drums, added a comical scene to his adaptation.
Crash and the Boys Knock Out Audience
Appears In: Vol. 1
Context: Crash and the Boys plays 0.4 second-long songs that are so strange in rhythm they knock out the audience for 20-30 minutes. The only people that survive the disaster are Scott and his friends.
Why It Was Left Out: To make the first battle of the film even more of an epic spectacle, Wright gave Scott an audience to prove himself to.
Friendship Force Field
Appears In: Vol. 1
Context: Scott’s friends help him deflect Patel’s fireballs with what Scott calls “friendship and courage and whatever!”
Why It Was Left Out: Wright probably wanted Pilgrim to defeat the first evil ex with no help or handicaps to establish that he is a badass and this movie is going to rock.
