[FILM] The World’s End

The third and final installment of The Cornetto Trilogy; The World’s End brings to a close the stories of quirky, unexpected and novel films that I have enjoyed for years. While not quite bettering Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz in my humble opinion, it was still fiercely enjoyable, with many genuine laugh out loud moments and fantastic performances from a cast who will delight and enrapture. It isn’t difficult to understand why the reviews from my fellow movie bloggers have been primarily positive.

Before we get further into the semantics, let’s have a look at the story. Gary King (Simon Pegg), a once big-shot party-boy of Newtown Haven, England, attempts to gather his old school chums together in order to relive and finally conquer “The Golden Mile”, a pub crawl that encompasses the twelve pubs in their sleepy suburban hometown. After some impressive tall-talk he manages to coerce Steven (Paddy Considine), Peter (Eddie Marsan), Oliver “The Oman” (Martin Freeman) and former BFF Andy (Nick Frost) to reunite and have another crack at the previously undo-able feat twenty years later, when the lads are pretty much pushing forty.

I would like to know if it really was beer they were drinking, because Pegg is the Master of Chug.

From the very beginning it is obvious to us that while the group have moved on, grown up, secured successful jobs and started families of their own, former ringleader Gary is stuck in the past. He hasn’t changed from his carefree binge-drinking late teenage years, and still appears to be preoccupied with the pursuit of the ultimate good time. Many before me have commented on the delicious swap of roles here, as Pegg takes on the position of habitual failure with Gary and Frost absolutely shines as he takes on the steady, reliable and financially stable best bud Andy. We’re reminded in The World’s End of just how well they work together, and how much their performances complement each other, no matter how different.

You’ve got some blue on you.

It isn’t long before the gang begin to realise that all in Newtown Haven isn’t exactly as they’d left it. The story unravels quickly, starting with a hilarious bathroom brawl and culminating in the survivors’ last stand for humanity. The fight scenes are wonderfully done; they are in equal parts funny and impassioned, with the cast displaying an unrealistic but fitting aptitude for Kung Fu and Frost is a powerhouse of rugby tackles and wrestling moves. There are memorable cameo appearances from the likes of Pierce Brosnan and Bill Nighy, and I was even entertained by the love interest addition of Rosamund Pike. She normally annoys me.

HULK SMASH.

It’s not perfect by any means and it gets monumentally bizarre in places. But somehow, even with the extraordinary premise, it works, almost as well as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz did. It won’t end in the way you’d expect it to either, but it’s a fun ride all the same. Plus the soundtrack is brilliant.

 

IMDB Rating: 7.9
Do I agree?: Pretty much. My favourite comedy this year.

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GUINNESS. ›

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Categories: Film, Review

Tags: Bill Nighy, Cornetto Trilogy, Eddie Marsan, Edgar Wright, Hot Fuzz, Martin Freeman, Movie, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Pierce Brosnan, Review, Shaun of the Dead, Simon Pegg, The World's End

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