The first movie I've seen in quite a while that made me want to stand up and cheer.

Rating: 8/10 (14 August 2010)

"Scott, if your life had a face, I would punch it."
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is easily the most purely and totally entertaining movie that I've seen in ages. It's the epitome of video game culture on film, a great comic book adaptation, and just flat-out fun.
For a movie with so many flourishes, bells, and whistles, the story is quite simple and effective. It's even driven by love, awww. Scott Pilgrim is a 22 year-old video game fan, band member, and a nerdy version of a ladies man. He's also a little immature and selfish, as a lot of people in their early twenties can be. When he meets Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), he's instantly and totally smitten. So much so that he forgets his current girlfriend and pursues her with full fervor. And it's fortunate that he's so head over heels, because Ramona has seven evil ex's who are determined that she's either going to be with one of them, or no one at all.
And those conflicts are settled by fighting. Wild, kinetic, inventive fights that can only be summed up as epic. Like the rest of the movie, they're infused with video game culture in a way that's irresistibly appealing to me. This entire movie just feels like it was made for me and people like me, and I love it for that.
My only complaint is that a little under 2 hours in not nearly enough time to flesh out the myriad of cool characters. A lot of the side characters only get the minimum of attention, and that's unfortunate (but understandable). But hey, you're going to want to check out the comic after seeing this anyway, and then you'll get to see all the cool bits and characterization that had to be omitted to ensure a reasonable running time.
Other than wishing it was longer, I had no issues. The movie was consistently hilarious, Cera was a great Scott, Winstead was a great Ramona, the whole cast rocked, the music rocked, the fights rocked, and there was all the style and fun you could ask for. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is the best movie I've seen this year, and Edgar Wright is a genius for pulling this off so well. You may not love it as much as I did if you're not a part of its targeted demographic, but it's such an entertaining movie that anyone with an open mind has a strong chance of at least liking it.