And the Cornetto Trilogy comes to a spectacular end. The World’s End is the third Simon Pegg/Edgar Wright collaboration that takes pieces of the first two films (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) while still creating a send up of another movie genre. It’s also about time that the bar crawl gets a really strong movie built around it.
Gary King (Simon Pegg) experienced the greatest night of his life when he attempted the golden mile of 12 bars (he completed 9) with his 4 best friends. Gary has never hit a high as good as that night, so he tries to recreate it several years later with his “friends.” However, they have all moved on: Oliver (Martin Freeman) is a real estate agent and his sister Sam (Rosamund Pike) is over her crush of Gary. Steven (Paddy Considine) has a solid job, and Pete (Eddie Marsan) is happily married with kids. Even Gary’s partner-in-crime Andy (Nick Frost) has so evolved he doesn’t even drink anymore. Despite their misgivings the 4 join Gary in their hometown to finish the crawl this time and make it to the last bar: the World’s End. However, tensions between the group and odd behavior of the townspeople threaten to derail the group at every turn.
It’s hard to nail down one particular genre these guys are sending up. The buddy comedy comes to mind; horror films and sci-fi/apocalypse movies are also represented here. The editing between the friends lives is crisply executed and completed in about 10 minutes. Sam’s story intersects so coarsely with Gary’s that it is hard to see them ending up together. The World’s End takes pieces of each trope and subverts them in very clever ways that don’t feel like forced twists. In fact, the final 30 minutes of the film are so brilliantly clever takes on sci-fi conventions that I think a new tactic for the genre has been created.
The World’s End succeeds because of the character development of the 5 guys and Sam. Each one is given a nice little back story with unique relationships with Gary and even some between other group members (Wright is so good with creating unique things he even finds an angle for all 12 bars). Their quips are very British, but also snappy, fun, and quick-moving. After the quick intro, the laughs keep coming and never really cease from beginning to world’s end. Also, the little bickerings fester and grow into full-fledged blow ups in the third act that carry real emotional consequences for the characters involved. The conflicts in the World’s End are deeper than the rest of the Cornetto efforts and carry real pathos that is more relatable and ubiquitous to the audience.
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are known as solid funny men, but they carry some serious dramatic acting chops into the World’s End. Frost is very good as the straight man to Pegg’s arrested development, and the reveals of what happened to their friendship provides the heartbeat of the World’s End. Surrounding the two are 4 solid British thespians who get to play around for fun for 90 minutes. Rosamund Pike is independent and spunky as Sam: a nice turn on the love interest trope. Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, and Eddie Marsan all find their little spot in the group and do good comedic and dramatic work around Pegg and Frost.
The World’s End will keep you laughing while making you feel a little sad at the same time. Nick Frost and Simon Pegg have been doing good work for almost a decade now; it’s nice to see them continue to grow as actors without falling on their natural charisma to bail them out. Also, thanks to these guys, the words omen and marmalade will make me giggle anytime they are brought up in conversation, and so will Pegg in a duster. He he.