Movies

Scott Pilgrim vs the World is a bit like Kill Bill: Volume 1: they're both movies that are mostly icing, very little cake.

That's not a put-down. While it's light on plot, Scott Pilgrim is one of the most visually impressive, energetic and downright fun movies of the year.

The plot, based on a series of graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley, is pure nonsense in the best sense of the word. The titular Scott (Michael Cera, sporting one of cinema's worst ever haircuts — it's abhorrent, but there is a plot reason for it) falls for Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who has seven evil exes he must fight if he wants to go out with her.

It's never explained in great detail where the league of evil exes — whose members include arrogant movie star Lucas Lee (Chris Evans), pompous vegan Todd (Brandon Routh) and the psychotic Roxie (Mae Whitman) — earned their superpowers, or why the league even exists in the first place. But it doesn't really matter; the whole thing is strung up on comic-book logic.

The film's great strength is its vibrant cast of up-and-coming stars: Cera isn't exactly pushing himself beyond his usual hipster routine, but he makes the sometimes unlikeable Scott a character to root for.

Rory Culkin (as Scott's gay roommate Wallace), Anna Kendrick (Scott's sister Stacey), Aubrey Plaza (Stacey's deadpan friend Julie) and Ellen Wong (Scott's 17-year-old obsessed girlfriend Knives Chau) are also great.

Scott Pilgrim is directed by Edgar Wright (whose credits include Shaun of the Dead and the TV series Spaced), whose style is rife with jarring cuts and unashamedly over-the-top visuals. While the film is achingly hipster, Wright keeps it from sliding into so-cool-it'll-cut-you territory. His number-one priority seems to be making sure his audience has a blast, and he succeeds 100 percent.