Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Impressions before seeing it
Never read the comics, but a while back I saw a clip from the scene where Scott (Michael Cera) fights Lucas (Chris Evans) and I thought it was really cool how they were writing the sound effects on the screen, like an updated version of the technique used in the old Batman TV series. +4 Interest gained!

How was it?
As I was watching this, one word came to mind: hyperreal. And I'm not just saying that because of the fancy special effects and video game structure. The writing of the characters is also stylized (especially Scott Pilgrim himself) because they sometimes have a way of being overly fast, energetic, and cartoonish, which could be viewed as a misstep because usually you want your characters to be down to earth and relatable. In another movie I would have deducted a lot of points for that, but it works here because of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World's overall package: a sprightly, action-packed adventure that blends video games (points and stats appearing on screen), comic books (panel-like split screens, visible sound effects, animated cut scenes in the style of the Scott Pilgrim comic), and the fantasies of an adolescent daydreaming boy (dream sequences, crazy powers, young love). Obviously this movie wasn't meant to be realistic - it's more like reality with everything cranked up to 11 and some to 11,000 - but even the weirdest and craziest movies need something for the viewers to connect with, and here it is not necessarily the characters themselves, but their relationships. At its core, Scott Pilgrim is about young people making fickle, impulsive decisions based on love (even as Scott complains that Ramona [Mary Elizabeth Winstead] is guilty of this, it seems to have slipped his mind that he chased a girl he'd only met once while still dating Knives [Ellen Wong]). +1 Knowledge!

And I wholeheartedly agree that young people are irresponsible about love, and that's why daycares and kindergarten classes are currently being flooded with children who you know have young parents because they were named something awful and pretentious like Cadence or Grayson. -9 Appetite!

Recommendation
It will be easy for you to enjoy this movie if: a) you are a huge enough nerd that the idea of watching a live action video game sounds awesome to you, and b) you can suspend your disbelief just enough to accept the hyperreality of something with such a premise. I qualified for both. +8 to Fun!