MOVIE: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: HOLY CRAP. That was awesome. I...I think I might need to see it again. Though, to speak of Scott Pilgrim, the character, I must refer back to the movie Nine, which also centered on a man who was interesting and flawed, but nowhere near deserving of the amazing women in his life. That is, Scott Pilgrim is an aimless, formless, affectless twenty-something whose life seems to be a collection of experiences that were never fully experienced. He's in a band, he plays video games, and he's acquired the hipster-approved accessory that is a cutesy Asian girlfriend. (She is seventeen. EVERYBODY remarks upon this, but nobody seems very incensed about it. Probably because Scott Pilgrim is also a bit sexless.) Then Ramona Flowers skates past his vision, and suddenly he feels mobilized into acting, feeling, being. Except she has seven evil exes, and he has to battle them. This is...you just have to accept it, okay? Despite the verisimilitude, the world of Scott Pilgrim is an anime one, and sometimes people have superpowers, and sometimes they have random battles to the death in the middle of a crowded bar, and sometimes they battle to the death using bass guitars and the powers of veganism. The problem with Scott Pilgrim is the way he seems to view women, and the problem I have with Scott Pilgrim is the way it treats women, but I think both of those things are addressed (imperfectly) through the arc of the movie, and I need to think more before I can parse that further. But yeah, the movie sometimes balances on the razor edge between hipster-pseudo-ironic-racism-and-sexism and balls-out satire of the same, and while IMHO it manages to stick to the critique side of things, I would totally understand if it reads the other way to other viewers. In the end, though, this is a fun, silly, goofy, multi-modal story that should resonate with those of us who grew up with video games, mainstream indie music (oxymoron intended), superheroes, manga, and loneliness. And if you suspect you might dislike Scott Pilgrim anyway, see it for Ramona Flowers, and Kim Pine, and Stacey Pilgrim, and Envy Adams, and Julie Powers, and by god, see it for Knives Chau. See it for Toronto, and for Pizza Pizza, and for Second Cup. And if you need another reason, see it and let me know if you think Kieran Culkin is mysteriously, inexplicably attractive, because I am kind of feeling confused on that front, and I'd like some validation.