Official movie poster!

Video game nerds (and casual enthusiasts) rejoice!  Your hobby’s cinematic zeitgeist has arrived on the awkward shoulders of leading man Michael Cera in wunderkind Edgar Wright’s “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”, a film so self-referential and culturally aware (Pac-Man, DDR allusions abound!) that the only punchline missing was a swing at “Pilgrim’s” equally (unintentionally) laughable box office competition, “The Expendables.”

But, really, Wright (“Hot Fuzz,” “Shaun of the Dead”) has served up a witty, engaging treat that sees Cera as Pilgrim, a surprisingly self-assured (a departure from the normal Cera) twenty-something Canadian deadbeat whose life centers on his high school girlfriend, Knives (Ellen Wong), and his starry-eyed indie outfit, Sex Bob-omb.  Cue hyper-cool newcomer (to town) Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), from whom Pilgrim, though hardly a Lothario, manages to steal a date and “going-steady” status.  To date Ramona, however, Pilgrim must combat Ramon’s league of seven evil-exes organized by master hench-ex Gideon (an enjoyable turn by Jason Schwartzman).  I won’t declare the champ, but you are privy to know that this amusing, lethal league includes, amongst others,  a beefhead action star (maybe that was the subtle jab at “Expendables), a very vain rock bassist, and one very funny, collar-popped crooner, Matthew Patel.

The film’s visuals are incredible and, albeit heavy in the video game vein, refreshing: brilliant “K.O.!!”s dance across the screen after victorious Pilgrim battles, complemented well with “Pows!” and other street fighter-esque effects.  Older audiences will probably tire of the Wright treatment, lampooning its aesthetic as kitschy, but younger ilk  will appreciate this cultural pastiche of their childhood: in one scene, Pilgrim receives a “1UP” mushroom after pummeling a set of twin exes, tickling that Super Mario franchise funny bone within all of us (c’mon: we all dabbled in it!).

The script’s smart, too, with Pilgrim stationed as the crux behind witty exchanges with his band, Ramona, and Ramona’s exes.  Wright, it should be noted, has managed to avoid casting Cera as Cera (i.e. the awkward “Arrested Development”, “Superbad”, and “Juno” Cera): instead, he effuses a delicate blend of self-loathing and cockiness; as much, at least, as a bumbling gamer/music junkie could.  And props to Macaulay Culkin’s younger brother, Kieran Culkin, who gives an amusingly dry performance as Pilgrim’s gay roommate, Wallace.

Potentially harming to the film is Ramona, who isn’t developed as a particularly sympathetic character- she is, like Pilgrim, somewhat one-dimensional, but is hardly as magnetic as her geeky suitor.  While Pilgrim does man up and mature over film’s course, hardly any development is seen in Ramona, save for her ever-changing neon hair palette.  So the actual relationship between the two comes off as a bit flat- but perhaps a flat romance keeps the film grounded in reality.

In short, an enjoyable and CGI-tastic brawl it is!