Do you have the next Small Press Expo marked on your calendar? Do you have Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men volumes, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and the collected works of Douglas Coupland all placed on your top bookshelf, filed under “A” for “Awesome”? Do you have an original, operational Nintendo Entertainment System currently hooked up to your TV? Have you watched Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and the entire run of Spaced within the past year?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then 1) you may be a little geeky, 2) we should totally hang out, and 3) you’ve probably been looking forward to the release of Edgar Wright’s adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series with the same breathless anticipation as 15-year-old girls look forward to Edward and Bella finally starting their magical life together. If, instead, you’re looking for a Rosetta Stone that might help translate that first paragraph, your level of anticipation might more accurately be summed up as, “Scott who? Hey, it’s the new Michael Cera movie!”

Never fear. Because though Scott Pilgrim vs. the World may have a very dedicated niche audience, the reason that audience is so devoted is the fact that at its core, this is just a really sweet story about trying to make your way and find love in the uncertain waters of early adulthood. Strip away the video game, comic book, indie rock, and general pop culture trappings (well, please don’t, but if you did), and this is just an intelligent, hilariously rendered tale of Boy Meets Girl. Well, and then Boy Must Defeat Girl’s Seven Evil Exes in Battle. You know. Typical rom-com fare.