Edgar Wright’s first two big-screen directorial efforts paired him with co-writer/actor Simon Pegg, as the two led 2004’s Shaun of the Dead and 2007’s Hot Fuzz. With 2010’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Wright takes a break from his collaboration with Pegg, though the two would reunite with 2013’s The World’s End.

20-something Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) plays bass in an up-and-coming rock band and dates high school student Knives Chau (Ellen Chau). However, his life takes a turn when he meets mysterious Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a new arrival in Toronto from New York.

Immediately smitten, Scott dumps Knives and attempts to woo Ramona. However, she comes with ample baggage, as Scott must defeat seven of Ramona’s ex-lovers to win the day.

Going into World, two pre-inclinations battle in terms of how I’ll swallow the film. On one hand, I like Wright’s work, so his presence leaves me with the feeling I’ll likely enjoy it.

On the other hand, World plops Cera on screen for an awful lot of its running time, and that becomes a major drawback. Though tolerable in some films, I find Cera to provide an actively annoying presence much of the time, so the movie would need to negate his inherent obnoxiousness to succeed.

Which side wins? Neither, really, though Cera’s usual mumbly, quirky neutered boy-man style threatens to harpoon the proceedings.

As noted, Cera stands as one of my least favorite actors, one who got more and more annoying with time. In the right role, he can be tolerable, but usually he bugs the crap out of me.

Because I didn’t read the source graphic novels, I don’t know how closely Cera’s performance matches the character as created. I would guess that we find a mix here, as I expect the script replicated Scott as intended but the part got put through the Cera blender onscreen.

All I know for a fact is that Scott feels like just another Cera character here, with nothing to separate him from the long list of other annoying wimps in his filmography. Frankly, it becomes tough to understand how Scott ever got a date - much less enjoyed success with a wide range of females – given how annoying and charmless he seems in Cera’s hands.

I will admit that Wright stages the fights in a way that makes Cera surprisingly credible as an action hero. Cera looks so weak that I find it tough to imagine he could take down a toddler, but the battles manifest in a manner that allows them to seem believable.

Well, “believable” in terms of World’s manic cartoon universe. This feels like the kind of movie that probably polarizes viewers, many of whom love its giddily over the top nature and others who get annoyed by its relentlessly clever-clever nature.

As for me, I find myself somewhere in the middle, as I appreciate aspects of World but roll my eyes at others. Does that fact the project includes characters named “Young Neil” and “Stephen Stills” comes across as too cutesy for its own good? Yes – yes, it does.

Of course, those choices – and most of the other questionable decisions – stem from the source, but that doesn’t make them any less grating. At times, World just seems too in love with its own wacky, “meta” zeitgeist for its own good. This is a film that walks that fine line between clever and stupid on a nearly constant basis, and it often tramps all over it.

Nonetheless, even with more than a few groan-worthy elements, Wright manages to make World a fairly fun adventure. It helps that he manages to ground the fantasy in a surprisingly solid “coming of age” story.

Actually, we probably get less of a tale in that vein and more of a metaphor for how people need to navigate romantic pairings. Ramona’s exes act as the baggage that new suitors must confront – and get past – for relationships to succeed.

While the comic book action seems like an odd way to explore this topic, it fares nicely, mainly because it sugarcoats the potentially soggy melodrama. We get lessons and development without really realizing it, so the maturation and meaning goes down easily.

Outside of Cera, World boasts a strong cast, and they help sell the material as well. I won’t even spotlight anyone in particular, as all add to the experience and give weight to their cartoon characters.

I guess it stands as praise that I like World despite my disdain for its main actor. Maybe someday we’ll get a remake with a less annoying lead. Until/unless that happens, the 2010 filmw will stand as an erratic but largely entertaining fable.

Footnote: a cute animation for “The End” appears after the final credits.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc – mostly. Occasional 2.35:1 shots came into the image, but those occurred infrequently.

For the most part, sharpness worked fine. Occasional shots felt a smidgen soft – intentionally so, it appeared - but these remained in the minority, as most of the flick seemed well-defined.

I saw no signs of jagged edges or shimmering, and edge haloes remained absent. No print flaws popped up along the way.

Colors veered toward a light blue orientation, though other hues popped up as well. Actually, I expected a broader palette given the wild comic book universe, but within the film’s choices, the hues seemed well-rendered.

Blacks felt deep and dense, while shadows offered nice smoothness and clarity. This tuned into an appealing image.

Expect an aggressive DTS-HD A 5.1 soundtrack, one with a level of activity anticipated for a wild story of this sort. Music became the dominant element, as the score and songs made vivid use of the various channels.

Effects also worked well, with a lot of fights to enliven the proceedings. We also got directional dialogue and a lot of in-your-face information through this involving mix.

Audio quality worked fine, with speech that seemed natural and distinctive. Music was vivid and full as well.

Effects came across as accurate and dynamic, with good clarity and low-end punch. This felt like a solid mix for a wacky flick.

Like other Edgar Wright releases, this Blu-ray boasts plenty of extras, and we find four separate audio commentaries. The first comes from director/co-writer Edgar Wright, co-writer Michael Bacall and author Bryan Lee O’Malley, all of whom sit together for this running, screen-specific look at the source and its adaptation, reflections of O’Malley’s life, story and characters, music, cast and performances, and other production tidbits.

Though Bacall chimes in occasionally, this track mostly acts as a chat between Wright and O’Malley. I’m fine with that, as the pair engage well to deliver plenty of good information.

We get lots of insights related to O’Malley’s books as well as other influences and a view of the screenplay’s evolution. This becomes a lively and informative discussion.

For the second commentary, we hear from director/co-writer Edgar Wright and director of photography Bill Pope. Both sit together for their running, screen-specific discussion of sets and locations, cinematography, stunts and action, effects, and connected subjects.

As usual, Wright becomes the dominant part of the chat, though Pope contributes a fair amount of info as well. We get a solid, brisk overview of technical areas in this useful commentary.

The other two tracks feature cast, and the first of these includes actors Michael Cera, Jason Schwartzmann, Ellen Wong, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Brandon Routh. All five sit together for a running, screen-specific take on their experiences during the shoot.

Occasionally. Mainly the actors tell us what they love about the movie and introduce banal memories. They also discuss burger places they enjoy and other “insights”. While the actors maintain enough energy to make this a painless listen, we don’t learn a whole lot about the movie itself.

Finally, we get a commentary from actors Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Kieran Culkin and Mark Webber. These four sit together for a running, screen-specific look at various aspects of the shoot and their time on the flick.

Like the first actors’ commentary, this one comes long on chitchat and short on filmmaking notes. However, it feels more compelling, if just because the participants devote their discussion to praise less than their predecessors.

Also, Plaza’s snarky attitude adds levity, and the track feels breezy enough. The commentary never offers a lot of real insight but it becomes a listenable little chat.

Also alongside the movie, we can view a Trivia Track. It gives us info about sets and locations, cast and crew, music, various insights and a mix of other production areas. It becomes a nice complement to all the commentaries.

An interactive feature called U-Control brings one element: “Storyboard Picture-in-Picture”. It offers exactly what the title implies: storyboards that accompany the entire movie/

Or most of it, at least. The boards take up part of the bottom half of the screen and offer unusually well-drawn pieces – much better than the usual crude work.

Because the boards fill an awful lot of the screen, it seems tough to watch the movie with “U-Control” activated. Nonetheless, this becomes a cool addition to the set, as I like the ability to compare the boards to the final film.

21 Deleted Scenes occupy a total of 27 minutes, 12 seconds. These mostly extend existing sequences and/or add some character bits. None of them feel especially important, but they offer some moderately interesting material, particularly when we get an alternate ending.

We can view the scenes with or without commentary from Wright. He tells us about elements of the segments and why he cut them. Wright proves informative as always.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the Bloopers lasts nine minutes, 42 seconds and delivers mostly the standard goofs and giggles. I do like the fact we see all 33 attempts it took Cera to toss his Amazon package into the trash can, though.

As we head to “Documentaries”, we launch with The Making of Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, a 49-minute, 33-second piece. It includes notes from Wright, O’Malley, Bacall, Pope, Cera, Wong, Culkin, Webber, Winstead, Plaza, Kendrick, producers Nira Park and Mark Platt, production executive Jared LeBoff, executive producers Ronaldo Vasconcellos and J. Miles Dale, key makeup Jordan Samuel, costume designer Laura Jean Shannon, 3rd AD Adam Bocknek, stunt coordinator Brad Allan, lead stunt doubles Chris Mark and Riley Jones, stunt trainer Max C. White, production designer Marcus Rowland, props Toni Wong, set dresser Steve Middlebrook, musician Brendan Canning, Kevin Drew, Jimmy Shaw, Emily Haines, Josh Winstead, and Joules Scott-Key, 2nd assistant art director J. Ryan Halpenny, and actors Alison Pill, Chris Evans, Mae Whitman, and Johnny Simmons.

“Making” discusses the project’s roots and development, adaptation, story and character domains, cast and performances, photography, sets and locations, stunts and action, hair/makeup/costume choices, and other production domains.

Expect a nice overview of the film’s creation here. We get lots of footage from the shoot and find plenty of good insights in this brisk examination of the movie.

Music Featurette spans 16 minutes, 27 seconds and includes Wright, Park, Drew, Canning, Scott-Key, Haines, Josh Winstead, Shaw, O’ Malley, Cera, Simmons, Pill, Webber, Routh, Larson, composer Nigel Godrich, music director Chris Murphy, and actor Abigail Chu.

As expected, the reel discusses aspects of the movie’s music, with more emphasis on songs over score. Despite a lot of praise for various musicians and actors, this still turns into a fairly informative clip.

Next we go to You Too Can Be Sex-Bob-Omb, a two-minute, 42-second piece that brings a quick look at efforts to turn Webber into a musician. It comes with some value.

Two segments appear under Alternative Footage: “Alternative Edits” (12:21) and “Bits and Pieces” (6:51). Both bring unused footage, though the “Edits” come closer to deleted scenes, whereas “Pieces” deliver shorter snippets. All seem fun to see.

“Pre-Production” brings more materials, and under Pre-Prodiction Footage, we get 10 clips: “The First Animatic” (1:18), “Patel Rig Test” (1:20), “Air Juggle Concept” (0:17), “The Test Shoot” (2:22), “Recording Session for the Bass Battle” (1:05), “Mecha-Gideon” (1:54), “Ninja Ninja Revolution Scene 11” (2:31), “Ninja Ninja Revolution Scene 27” (3:07), “Lucas Lee ‘Cold Call’ Sequence” (0:27) and “Cigarette Removal Test” (0:33).

Across these segments, we get lots of glimpses of various tests and other pre-shoot concepts. Expect some enjoyable views of the different elements and methods involved.

17 segments appear within Animatics. This compilation spans a total of 36 minutes, 16 seconds and offers more rough footage. Some of the animatics follow the standard format: essentially filmed storyboards with audio.

However, we also get shots closer to rehearsals, such as run-through footage of bands or tests of fights. This becomes another fine compilation of material that reveals the planning processes for the movie.

Eight more clips show up via Rehearsal Videos. These occupy a total of nine minutes, eight seconds and bring us lots more enjoyable peeks behind the scenes.

Next comes a Props, Rigs and Sets Montage that lasts two minutes, 43 seconds. It offers more test footage and becomes a short but cool overview.

Casting Tapes fills 13 minutes, 34 seconds and lets us see auditions for Ellen Wong, Mark Webber, Brie Larson, Aubrey Plaza, Brandon Routh, Satya Bhabha, Anna Kendrick, Mae Whitman, Alison Pill, Johnny Simmons, Kieran Culkin, and Abigail Chu. This becomes an enjoyable compilation.

“Pre-Production” ends with Hair and Makeup Footage, a 10-minute, 48-second view of the actors in different looks. While interesting, it would work better if the silent footage came with some commentary.

As we shift to “Music Promos”, we find four Music Videos. This area includes clips for “Garbage Truck” (2:09), “Black Sheep” (3:27), “Threshold” (1:52) and “Summertime” (2:17). All four simply consist of movie clips, so all four seem utterly forgettable.

OSYMYSO Remixes brings seven more pieces, with a total running time of nine minutes, 27 seconds. These match various movie snippets with instrumental tunes. They’re more compelling than the videos but still not especially compelling.

Three more domains show up under “Visual Effects”, and VFX Before & After provides a 14-minute, 37-second compilation accompanied by commentary from visual effects supervisor Frazer Churchill.

As we watch the raw footage followed by the finished material, Churchill leads us through the techniques. This becomes a nice overview of the effects work done on the film.

Roxy Fight/Ribbon Version goes for one minute, 11 seconds and shows an alternate presentation of the scene in question. It becomes mildly interesting at most.

Finally, Phantom Montage: Hi Speed Footage tuns three minutes, 47 seconds and displays raw clips of slow-motion elements. This turns into a decent addition but nothing especially memorable.

Soundworks Collection lasts five minutes, 43 seconds and delivers notes from supervising sound editor Julian Slater and sound re-recording mixers Doug Cooper and Chris Burdon. They give us notes about sound design in this short but effective chat.

Trailers breaks into three subdomains. In addition to three theatrical trailers and 18 TV spots, we find four video game trailers.

With Adult Swim: Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation, we get a three-minute, 48-second cartoon related to the film. It gives us a prequel look at Scott that boasts a few movie actors as voices. This becomes a fun addition.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the Censors presents “TV safe” versions of some scenes. It fills four minutes, 11 seconds with not convincingly looped – and often silly – substitute dialogue.

12 Blogs occupy a total of 45 minutes, 46 seconds. Across these, we get footage from the shoot at various stages. These offer lots of nice views of the production.

Finally, 12 Galleries complete the disc. These cover “Production Photos” (56 stills), “Edgar’s Photo A Day Blog” (319), “Johnny Simmons’ Photos” (12), “Ellen Wong’s Photos” (5), “Mark Webber’s Photos” (8), “Theatrical Posters” (10), “Fictional Posters” (15), “Bryan’s Flip Charts” (8), “Storyboards” (377), “Conceptual Art Gallery” (66), “Graphic Novel Comparison Gallery” (158) and “Mecha-Gideon – The Original Boss Battle” (19). Plenty of great images appear across these collections.

Despite my aversion to its lead actor, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World offers a mostly fun mix of character exploration, action and comedy. While the film occasionally becomes too self-infatuated to succeed, it gives us enough good material to keep us with it. The Blu-ray brings generally good picture as well as solid audio and an exhaustive roster of bonus materials. World won’t work for everyone, but it does reasonably well for itself.