The World’s End, the concluding chapter in Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg’s Cornetto Trilogy, is a sci-fi comedy is like no other you will see this year and a rip roaring fitting finale to the irreverent adventures began in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Will a subtle small town alien invasion put a stop to a twenty years in the making bar crawl victory lap? I would hope not.
Twelve pubs. One night. The the pub crawl to end them all. A very appropriate and effective tag seen and heard all over the film’s promotions. And that aspect alone is well worth coughing up the admission price. But The World’s End is many things more, making it the most complex work yet from director Wright and star Pegg, who co-penned the screenplay.
Twenty years after a failed attempt at completing the Golden Mile, a local legendary pub crawl, with his best buds during their high school years, Gary King (Simon Pegg) finds himself hell bent on getting the “Five Musketeers” back together to take one last stab at finishing the task. But unlike the 40-year old chain smoking man child King, all these years later his chums are settled off with families and successful careers, and have few aspirations of re-tracing their beer guzzling pasts.
Gary re-unites his mates Andy (Nick Frost), Oliver (Martin Freeman), Peter (Eddie Marsan) and Steven (Paddy Considine) and travel back to their hometown for one last go to guzzle the night away on the Golden Mile: one pint at each of the twelve bars culminating at the final pit stop, The World’s End.
The lads find a drone-like atmosphere has engulfed the town, which has become boring, mundane and the decor in the bars are all interchangeably corporate as every any Applebee’s in the franchise. What brings the group together is what separates this from a tired plot lifted from The Hangover or the like. Like Shaun of the Dead, it turns a genre on its side. World’s End takes an Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets Attack The Block left turn: King and the gang are put up against an alien robot occupation.
The typical Simon Pegg / Nick Frost on-screen dynamic here is changed up a bit. Frost’s Andy Knightly, who hasn’t enjoyed a drink in 16 years, wants absolutely nothing to do with the whole grand plan, and even less to do with King (who even managed to swindle him into agreeing to participate in the evening) and his obsession to reclaim former glory. Their initial on-screen relationship is far from the usual win win buddy buddy we are accustomed to. It also allows us to see a different darker side to their comedic chops while still managing to provide us with big laughs. Pegg also offers a winning layered turn here as King, whose obsession with finishing the Golden Mile despite the absolute mayhem going on all around him has a lot more behind it than just an immature Peter Pan complex.
Martin Freeman, a cameo staple of the Cornetto group, finally gets a meaty role as the stuffy business savvy Oliver Chamberlain. His deadpan delivery works its usually magic, especially when the boys have boy-ish things to say about his sister Sam (Rosamund Pike). Eddie Marsan as the aloof Peter brings an amazing bullied underdog element to the film and rounds out the group’s various identities well. Rosamund Pike as Sam Chamberlin, a quickie King fling back in the day, offers great sidesteps to the heavy boy’s club feel.
Edgar Wright one again showcases his chops as a director who can switch it up big time at the drop of a hat. He can transition from long straightforward dialogue stretches one minute, to his signature quick-cut close-ups montages, to rousing kinetic action sequences right out the best action films. Everything he has under the hood is all out there it. There is an additional unique feel to the film through his frequent use of practical in-camera transitions that keep the film moving along from scene to scene. It’s a clever addition in filmmaking, and adds a subtle sense of greater movement rather than going straight cut to cut or dissolving from passage to passage. The always excellent cinematography courtesy of Bill Pope is a huge asset as well.
The special FX are convincing for the scope of the film. Nothing ever goes to an over epic scale in strict relation to what the script requires, but the evil robots and their related abundance of glowing eerie eyes and blue goop innards firmly keep you in this world from every bar fight to street fight. The staging and execution of the fight sequences are nothing to scoff at either. Whether you buy the stamina and hand-to-hand abilities of these middle-aged blue collar Brits is another thing altogether, but it all makes for much action packed fun.
The initially film moves along with a slow burn. There is a conscious effort to not skimp on establishing these characters and their relationships before all hell breaks loose, and that works here. There is payoff to the meticulous set-up of the themes of unfulfilled dreams, adult problems and rekindling life long friendships before diving into the the throes of fighting for the future of mankind. You will wish any attempt at celebrating long lost bonds will not involve similar earth shattering events, but as long as you have your old chums at your side, the end is not neigh.
The World’s End is solid fun with a lot of heart mixed in when you least expect it. With no shortage of cameos, sharp one-liners, and winning performances, it’s a rousing must-see for the built-in fan base (I am admittedly a devoted Hot Fuzz disciple) and anyone who can enjoy good Brit wit laughs mixed in with sci-fi elements. Wright and Pegg end their trilogy with their most ambitious film yet that delivers a surprising fun feel good ride. By the end credits roll you too may feel like you have finally successfully made that glorious victory lap around the Golden Mile.
The World’s End opens on August 23rd.
REVIEW RATING: ★★★½★★
Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan, Rosamund Pike
Screenwriters: Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg
Studio: Focus Features
Rated: R
Running Time: 109 minutes
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