Scott Pilgrim vs the World (2010)

“We all have baggage.”

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Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) strings along a band and a girl in an alternate-reality Toronto rife with unpopular cultural references.  Through a dazzling flurry of video game-isms, he finds a truer love of his life in the distant Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), an iridescent alternachick.  If he doesn’t destroy himself, a succession of jealous exes might.

Leaving aside any swipes at Michael Cera, it took me a while to figure out why Scott Pilgrim was so unsympathetic.  He makes the same mistakes I know I’ve made myself, amounting to entertainment that’s frustrating and humbling, but also illuminating.

Plus it’s funnier when it’s happening to someone else.

I’d like to take this opportunity to use the word “dazzling” without irony.  With an incredible cast, a great soundtrack, and psychedelic effects, it’s an awesome distillation of geek culture, everything Infinite Playlist could have been, and more.  Much more.

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Please note:  This review is a placeholder “stub” intended for future revision.

Rated PG / PG13 for adult situations, language, and violence

112 minutes