Visually dazzling, and outrageously energetic. Die hard video gamers will especially have a fun time.

Rating: 9/10 (18 September 2010)

The film centers on Scott Pilgrim (Played by Michael Cera), the bass guitarist for a band, and an overall slacker living with his gay roommate Wallace (Played by Kieren Culkin). His life is suddenly turned upside down when he falls in love with the mysterious Ramona Flowers (Played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Not only does he face the problem of currently dating a clingy teen four years his junior (Played by Ellen Wong), but in order to date Ramona, he must battle, and defeat her seven evil exes (Played by the likes of Jason Schwartzman, Chris Evans, and Brandon Routh), and along the way learns how to be a less selfish person.
It's not hard to see why the film, based on the series of graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley, might turn some away. The novels' built in fan base will love the film I imagine, but it might be pretty divisive to those who aren't familiar with the source material, this includes myself. As for the overall product, I loved it.
The film is directed by Edgar Wright, who you may remember best for directing truly original, energetic, and hilarious comedies like Shaun of the Dead, and Hot Fuzz. Like those two, he does this film beautifully. The comedy is wonderful, his direction is great, and he makes this film a visual and audial spectacle. He smartly presents the film in the style of video games, making great use of graphics, and audio, as well as providing some inspired sight and sound gags. Unlike myself though, it could prove exhausting to some, even to the point of Terry Gilliam exhausting, but Wright knew full well what he wanted to make, what he wanted the tone to be, and he hit it right.
As for the talent, I do think Michael Cera is getting majorly typecast in this sort of geek role, but he does a good job and provides some good laughs, and fans of his will be surprised by how much ass he kicks. Mary Winstead's character, and performance is great. She adds some clever nuances to her performance, and the mystery of her character makes her all the more interesting. The rest of the cast which includes Kieran Culkin, Ellen Wong, Anna Kendrick, Allison Pill, and the exes who I won't list individually, are fantastic as well, and get some great laughs.
Now for the action. There are a few directors who do action better than Wright, but there's no one who does action quite like him. He's simply a master of scene build up, and pacing, and how he shoots the film, matched with the brilliant efforts of his film editors Johnathan Amos and Paul Machliss is simply inspired. Every cut, every transition, every change in frame rate is a pure masterstroke of ambition for a film that is fast paced, hilarious, visually stunning, exhilarating, and brimming with great talent in spite of the film's few imperfections.
Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World is one of the year's finest films, and I give it ***1/2 out of ****