Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Loosely based on Bryan Lee O'Malley's comparatively low-key comic book, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World nods to nearly every geeked-out pop-culture development of the past 40 years, including video games, manga, and more. The thin story has Scott (Michael Cera with unfortunate hair) falling hard for Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead with intensely colored hair), and tasked with fighting off her "seven evil exes" in escalating video-arcade-style battles, while also attracting the affections of smitten high school girl Knives Chau (Ellen Wong in an ingratiating film debut) along the way. Most of the characters are uniformly snarky twentysomethings, but the likeable cast, the hyperkinetic style, and the clever angst-ridden dialogue keep one entertained. The propulsive indie-rock music (the grungy lo-fi songs of Scott's band, Sex Bob-Omb, were written by Beck) is a key element of the film's success. Just as the nonstop frenetic assault of the movie starts to become wearying, Jason Schwartzman steps in with a fine comic turn as the main villain, Gideon Gordon Graves. Not for the literal-minded viewer, the film is a refreshing, stimulating blast, as one might expect from director Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead), who can stage a good fight, and has the sharp comic timing and skill with sight gags to elevate the material.