Anyone with at least one lazy eye glancing at Hollywood even occasionally would know now that the people making movies currently have a pretty massive boner for mining the depths of comic books for the big features. And I’m not talking about just the ‘big two’ companies Marvel and DC and their myriad of spandex-clad characters, but nearly every marginally successful comic book property seems to be up for grabs – or already grabbed, let’s face it – at the minute, and in 2010 we’ve already been offered up some big adaptations like The Losers, DC’s lesser known Jonah Hex, and of course Mark Millar’s beloved Kick-Ass, which performed far stronger than the other two mentioned films, and, at least for my money, was a whole lot of fun.

The latest book to get the cinema screen treatment is the buzzed about Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead adaptation of Bryan Lee’s long-running graphic novel, and much like Kick-Ass, it is unbelievably fun and a roaring success on Wright and his enviable cast’s part. But ‘success’ is a different thing for different people, and while Scott Pilgrim vs The World is indeed a pretty wonderful film – I’ll get back to that in a bit – it is seemingly tanking at the box office, with soft openings both here ($943,258 and 4th for the weekend) and in the US ($10.6 million and 5th). With an estimated $60 million plus budget, Scott Pilgrim’s potential to earn out looks kinda dire.
This is pretty lousy news, especially because Scott Pilgrim vs The World is worth your money. While I went in with only a casual knowledge of Lee’s comics – my world is limited to the a fore mentioned spandex-clad crowd – I emerged from the cinema with a huge crush on the characters and Edgar Wright’s painfully funny script.

Let’s start with those characters. Led by the forever likable Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim, Scott Pilgrim vs The World tracks our protagonist’s quest to win the affections of Ramona Flowers – that’s Mary Elizabeth Winstead – and subsequently defeat her seven evil exes who’re out to, uh, kill Scott Pilgrim. All of the exes from Ramona’s past are great, especially Chris Evans’ Lucas Lee and Jason Schwartzman as Gideon Gordon Graves, the big boss at the final stage of Scott Pilgrim’s journey. If that brief summation of the plot isn’t enough, then scope the trailer below for something a little more rounded.

While the performances in the film are all pretty spot-on, with Cera perfecting the awkward hipster-geek shtick that he’s been pimping since Arrested Development and supporting cast members like Kieran Culkin and Ellen Wong backing up nicely, it’s really just a treat to go along with Edgar Wright as he adapts the script for the screen and fills Scott Pilgrim vs The World with countless little gags, asides and visual tricks that are unmistakably him.

Truly, this is a movie-watcher’s movie and right from the start where Universal’s signature intro is transformed into an 8-bit throwback courtesy of Nigel Godrich you are rewarded for watching it. More over, it’s a film that’s likewise reverential to other mediums clearly close to Wright’s heart like comics and video games as is evidenced from the minute details like sound effects lifted from Street Fighter and the “thwacks” and “booooms” written on screen. Then there’s the obvious references like how each evil ex is styled like a video-game villain that spouts coins once defeated.

It’s these sly details which make Scott Pilgrim vs The World one of the most enjoyable and genuinely funny films you’ll see in 2010. So please go see it. If you don’t then your children’s children will look back and see films like Killers and Cats & Dogs 2: The Revenge of Kitty Galore and wonder what the hell we were smoking.