Before we begin this blog entry, there’s something I’d like you to do for me. First, find a pen or some other similarly-shaped object.

Got one? Good. Now place it between the third (middle) and fourth (ring) fingers on your right hand. Seriously, don’t wait to see where I’m going with this, just do it.

Now, with your left hand, I want you to squeeze all of the fingers on your right hand together as hard as you can.

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You may have noticed that this hurts quite a bit. Well, congratulations, you’ve just done your due penance for not going out to see Scott Pilgrim. If, however, you were one of the precious few who have contributed to the movie’s pitiful $12 million domestic gross so far, then you have my apologies and my great respect.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I’ve been greatly anticipating this movie for a very long time and after finally seeing the movie (I paid for two midnight premiere tickets but couldn’t stay awake long enough to use them), I’m overwhelmingly pleased to say that I wasn’t disappointed.

In fact, this movie just plain overwhelmed me. The entire six-volume book series was compressed into less than two hours of screen time, and the film takes us through it with breakneck speed. The editing in this movie is a work of art in itself, with scene transitions as novel and creative as they are fast. Every frame of this movie demands a second look, with untold intricacies and visual gags to be found in each corner. Jokes of every variety fly through this movie at a million miles an hour, all with rock solid comedic timing.

If you need a more first-hand idea of how this movie looks and flows (or even if you like good TV in general), check out Spaced, the UK sitcom starring Simon Pegg of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz fame. The show (and both of the aforementioned movies) were directed by a man named Edgar Wright and he brings a lot of the same sensibilities to Pilgrim. There are gags in this movie (the laugh track and the suddenly re-appearing hat, for example) that could just as easily have come from Spaced. Moreover, the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels were built around references to pop culture in general and video games in particular. This meshes perfectly with the sensibilities of the man who directed the pop culture salad of Spaced, who takes the video game motif and brings it to a whole ‘nother level.

I can’t possibly put down in words how funny this movie is. In the entire running time, there was scarcely a second when I wasn’t holding onto my sides and laughing fit to burst. A lot of this has to do with the whip-smart writing and the constant visual jokes, as well as the sheer variety and creativity on display (Julie’s peculiar method of speech being one of my favorite examples). But I’d be remiss if I didn’t give proper credit to the cast as well. Allison Pill brings a perfect deadpan sensibility to Kim Pine. Aubrey Plaza plays Julie Powers as a wonderfully bitter kiss-ass. Anna Kendrick is a caring if gossip-obsessed and slightly snarky sister to Scott. Kieran Culkin damn near steals the show as Wallace Wells.

We also have the Evil Exes, who more or less divide the movie into individual parts, but not nearly as much as in the comic books. Roxie, the fourth evil ex, actually makes her first appearace before the third one does, which helps a lot toward blurring the borders between segments. Additionally, the Katayanagi twins (exes #5 and #6) make their first appearances at the same time as big #7, Gideon Gordon Graves. This sadly gives the Katayanagi twins the short end of the stick. While they do present a formidable threat to Pilgrim and his friends, they don’t get a single line of dialogue between them and the movie pretty much treats them nothing more than Graves’ henchmen.

This brings me to the last and greatest of Ramona Flowers’ seven evil exes, played by Jason Schwartzman. You could call the guy scum, but that would be a gross understatement. Sure, he was a colossal prick in the comic books, but even the print Graves would have to stand in awe and humility of the slimy, egocentric, self-righteous and outright toxic douchebaggery that Schwartzman brings to the film Graves. It also helps immensely that his methods and motivations are so much simpler and better-explained in the film than they are in Volume 6.

Getting back to our main characters, we have Ellen Wong, who was given the very difficult task of playing Knives Chau. Her character’s arc is turbulent to say the least, but I’m glad to say that Wong was capable of seeing her through. From Chau’s hyperactive fangirl obsession to her older and wiser endpoint, Wong is given a wide spectrum of emotions to play and she does every one beautifully. Of course, it must be noted that Wong has an arc that is much better-paced than Chau’s in the comics, and with a much better conclusion, to boot.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays the female lead and does an outstanding job as Ramona Flowers. It’s not uncommon for movies to revolve around a relationship between two romantic leads, but it’s very uncommon to find a female lead in such a movie who isn’t defined entirely by her male counterpart. In this movie — as in the comics — Ramona and Scott actively challenge each other. They force each other to confront their flaws, learn about themselves and grow stronger as a direct result. And yet they’re both very much their own people, entirely capable of existing independently of each other. They both have very different backgrounds and very different ways to deal with their emotional baggage.

Ramona, in particular, maintains a demeanor that’s distant enough to keep her from emotional harm, but not so isolated that she can’t charm her way into another romance. This is a very difficult contradiction to reconcile and it simply won’t work unless the audience is willing and able to believe that the character has a long and hard history behind her. That’s a heavy burden to be pulled with nothing except raw emotion, but don’t think Winstead can’t do it. She did it.

Last but not least, there’s the star of the show. I know that there have been a lot of complaints recently about how Michael Cera is overexposed and how he plays the same character over and over again. Suck it up. I can say with confidence that there’s no one else in the wide, wide world of movies who could have played this role half as well as Cera does here. Yes, Cera has built his career on playing young and awkward slackers, but he’s grown so comfortable with that schtick that he’s become able to riff on it to hilarious results and that’s exactly what he does here.

In the comics, Scott was clueless and ignorant to the point that it was humorous and endearing. He was neglectful and even harmful to the feelings of those around him, but never because of malicious intent. He was weak enough to seem like he could never hurt a fly, but tough enough that it didn’t completely break disbelief when he went Ryu and Ken on someone’s ass. Cera fits this role like a hand in glove.

Oh yeah, Michael Cera kicks ass. I’d never have believed it if I didn’t see it, but Cera shows considerable action chops in this movie. The fight scenes here all have their own flavor — the climax alone has sword-fighting, our hero against waves of goons, CQC and two-on-one. The last half of the first fight is a Bollywood parody that I didn’t find particularly effective, but every fight is wonderfully unique and spectacularly physical, with Scott Pilgrim at the center of every one.

Of far greater importance is how Cera and Wright deal with Scott’s character development. The books frequently call his compatibility with Ramona into question and he’s never completely let off the hook for the emotional damage he causes, particularly to Knives Chau. This emotional arc is the heart of the story and it’s compressed into the movie with surprising fidelity. A lot of this comes from the “extra life” plot point, which may be the movie’s single greatest improvement over its source material.

Unfortunately, it must be noted that the movie certainly isn’t perfect and for all of its improvements over the comics, the story certainly lost a lot in adaptation. For example, there’s the fact that Scott is, in fact, a freeloader. He constantly mooched off of his friends and didn’t make any token effort to get a job and live independently until Volume 4. At least half the comic series focused on this point, and yet the movie barely does. Another story thread that got axed was Scott’s selective memory. The concept of remembering mistakes and learning from them, rather than sweeping them under the rug, was a central theme to the comics and it was scarcely touched upon in the movie.

Speaking of which, there’s also the matter of Nega Scott. In the movie, he was a one-off joke (albeit a funny one) that didn’t appear until the very end and had absolutely no effect on the plot. In the books, Nega Scott was a constant off-screen presence and Scott’s fight with himself was a huge milestone for his arc. While I appreciate the nod, I think I’d rather the movie just cut Nega Scott altogether than half-ass it the way they did.

Also, as great as the casting was, the weak link is undeniably Brie Larson as Envy Adams. She’s certainly trying her hardest, but Larson is clearly over-acting in the role. Moreover, she looks impossibly made-up and I think her hair may have been a wig. It all adds up to a woman who’s simply acting larger than life, as opposed to a woman who simply is larger than life. Of course, this doesn’t matter much as Larson doesn’t get a whole lot of screen time, but that does raise problems of its own.

In the comics, Envy used her fame and fashion as her own means of covering up her emotional baggage, just as Scott uses selective memory and Ramona her secrets. Volume 3 has a few quieter moments (smoking in the alley, for example) in which we see the Envy beneath the million-dollar outfit and I think it might have helped her immensely if the film had taken the time to do something similar. On a similar note, Envy played a very large part in Volume 6, helping to bring a very large amount of closure to her place in the story and in Scott’s as well. Without that extra bit of screen time, she just doesn’t come off as a memorable or vital part of the story.

Finally, Volume 6 contains a reveal about Steven Stills that I don’t dare reveal here. Suffice to say that it added a ton to the character and I’m tremendously disappointed that they couldn’t find a place for it in the movie.

When all is said and done, the improvements that Scott Pilgrim makes over its source material are simply too good to ignore. The film is even better as its own movie, with an amazing cast, great music, phenomenal visuals and masterful writing. The romance is solid and surprisingly novel in its execution, the fight scenes are spectacular and the movie is funny, funny, funny.

If you value any kind of ambition, talent or creativity in movies, then you have a deep and personal obligation to see Scott Pilgrim as soon as you possibly can.