The entire premise of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is built around the idea of the titular character getting into multiple fights. Scott must battle the exes of his new lady love, Ramona Flowers. Thankfully, when the comic book was adapted into a film, director Edgar Wright knew how to do justice to the fights and made them work.
Not every clash involved Scott as some other characters also got in on the fighting. Of course, as is the case with any movie that features fight scenes, some of them come off better than others in terms of action, drama, special effects, and more.
Sex Bob-Omb vs. The Katayanagi Twins
After fighting through four of the seven total evil exes, Scott Pilgrim thought he had some time off as he prepared for the next Battle of the Bands. That proved to not be the case as the band Sex Bob-Omb took on included Kyle and Ken Katayanagi, who happened to be Ramona’s fifth and sixth evil exes.
Since this fight took place while two bands were competing, it didn’t get physical in the way that the others did. Visually, the movie did a great job in making it look cool and basically turning the whole thing into a kaiju fight. However, that means it doesn’t match up to what the rest of the fights are like.
Knives Chau vs. Ramona Flowers
One of the two fights on the list to not totally involve Scott Pilgrim, this one comes at a crucial time at the end of the movie. As Scott went up against Gideon Graves, Knives Chau made a surprise appearance. However, instead of going after Gideon, she set her sights on Ramona, blaming her for the breakup with Scott.
Knives and Ramona had an entertaining exchange that featured some unique choreography compared to the rest of the film. While Knives used swords, Ramona had to pick up a random nearby object in an attempt to block whatever attacks were thrown her way. Ultimately, things were broken up when Scott finally admitted that he wronged both girls with his cheating ways.
Scott Pilgrim vs. Todd Ingram
If there’s one thing that the story does well, it’s making sure that none of the fights feel too similar. When Scott came face to face with Todd Ingram, it had higher stakes than the previous battles because not only was he Ramona’s ex but he was also the current boyfriend of Scott’s ex Envy Adams.
The fight itself stood out because Todd’s vegan lifestyle gave him superpowers. Those abilities made it so Scott couldn’t physically harm Todd and due to that, it was a one-sided fight. Just when it seemed like Scott had no chance to win this, he managed to outsmart Todd and prove that he wasn’t quite as perfect as he believed he was.
Scott Pilgrim vs. Lucas Lee
On his own, Lucas Lee might be the most entertaining of all of Ramona’s exes. Chris Evans perfectly portrayed the cocky movie star who delivers each line in hilarious fashion. As for the fight itself, this one also felt rather one-sided at times. Lee was simply too strong for Scott and threw him around with relative ease.
It also helped that Lee had assistance from his numerous stunt doubles to jump Scott. Seeing Scott overcome that and fight back made it a worthy battle. However, the thing that holds this back from ranking higher is the ending. Scott simply making Lucas explode after tricking him into doing a grind with his skateboard seemed a bit anti-climactic.
Ramona Flowers vs. Roxy Richter
Roxy Richter made her first appearance by running into Scott in an alley and threatening him. Scott wasn’t interested in fighting at the time so she left to return later. When she finally did, it was while Ramona and Scott were together and Scott figured out that the two had a romantic past.
Scott said he couldn’t hit a girl, so Ramona stepped up to fight Roxy for him. Watching her use her signature hammer against Roxy’s belt made for some of the film’s best choreography. Scott eventually had to get involved but Ramona mostly controlled him so he wasn’t technically hitting her. Ramona knowing the sweet spot to beat her also made for one of the more comical moments.
Scott Pilgrim vs. Matthew Patel
Sometimes, it’s difficult to top the fight that starts it all. While Scott was performing with Sex Bob-Omb early in the film, Matthew Patel randomly showed up to interrupt. He fought Scott and set the tone for the rest of the movie due to how weird the whole thing was.
Viewers got a taste for the video game style of a lot of these scenes as well as just how strange it can be. Matthew danced, sang, used fireballs, and had demon hipster chicks as part of his ensemble. The whole thing feels like something out of a video game and blends the action with the humor well. Everything from the dialogue to the evenly-matched battle to Stacey’s disbelief at it all is great.
Scott Pilgrim vs. Gideon Graves
This simply had to be the best of the fights in the movie. The entire plot built up to this showdown between Gideon Graves and Scott Pilgrim since Gideon was behind the League of Evil Exes. Even if their fight wasn’t interesting in terms of the action, it would rank high due to the emotional stakes.
Gideon actually beat Scott by stabbing him through his back. However, Scott used his extra life to return and battle Gideon with a flaming sword. In a tremendous callback, Knives and Scott worked together with a Dance Dance Revolution style attack to put down Gideon after he hit Ramona.
