Excellent Film, But Over-hyped

Rating: 7/10 (6 February 2011)

What to say, what to say? I had heard good things about this film for a while, an recently those good things reached a crescendo, with two of my most trusted movie advisers both recommending it. And, I am sad to say, as good as it was, it just did not meet the hype. Primarily because it was too long.
You have the dorkiest man in Hollywood, Michael Cera, and another arch-dork, Jason Schwartzman. And you have a female lead who I consider one of the top five hottest women in the world, Mary Elizabeth Winstead. So that is a great cast, not including all the bonus guest stars. (Sadly, I should be clear, Winstead did not look attractive at all in this film, being shown up by Ellen Wong.)
Another reviewer says the film is "quite possibly the most original and fresh movie of the decade." That is a bit extreme, but not without merit. I would be hard-pressed to find another movie similar to it. There are some "Kill Bill" moments, but the first is clearly more inspired by Beck, Nintendo (with some obscure references, such as Clash at Demonhead) and the original graphic novel.
The same reviewer says the film is "not a perfect movie and hardly could be called a masterpiece." I think this is true on a film levels. While the film clearly has great visuals and a sense of humor I appreciate, it spends too little time on character development and runs on the long side by having 7 evil exes. 5 would have been enough, and kept the pace more smooth. The fight scenes started to get repetitive.
The reviewer claims this is "the ultimate love story: a guy fights an army for his loved one." And that is a valid point, except I disagree. Scott Pilgrim hardly ever gets to know Ramona Flowers (again, little character development) beyond the fact she had seven exes... she is not worth that much trouble. And then you have his other love, whose only flaw is that she is in high school. They seem a better match.
I would love to respond to Roger Ebert's review, but he did not write one. (Apparently, he was writing his memoirs at the time.)
Some have tried to find a deeper meaning in the film, some criticism of pop culture. I do not know about that. Anyway: great film, full of nostalgia, and a really good concept. But runs on the long side, and if the fight scenes had been shortened to expand the characters a bit, it would have been an even better movie... as it is, a guilty pleasure but probably not a long-lasting film.