Nearly ten years ago a ginger lad and his lout best friend faced off against the Zombie apocalypse in rural England. With the undead rising so did the stars that are Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright. Yes arguable they were already on the up and up before Shaun of the Dead but it was that film which launched them into the international community. Their next project together strayed from the undead and focused on the buddy cop genre, EXPLODING a little countryside village in the process with Hot Fuzz. Despite their differences there remained one constant. “You want anything from the shop?…Cornetto”
The Blood and ice cream trilogy was born and The World’s End this year brings it to a close. Shaun had the red one, symbolizing blood; Hot Fuzz had the blue for the police, so all that was left was the green mint for… Alien invasion!
Pegg plays another man-child, the kind of man Shaun could have become had the zombie hordes not come knocking on his door. Gary King is a man who refuses to grow up and become a responsible adult, though darker consequences of this do affect the character, more then his cringworthy teenage behavior. The story unfolds with a recap of a mad night with his best friends as they to try and conquer the Golden mile of their hometown, 12 pubs in one night, twenty years ago. Unfortunately for him, its only Gary who wants to relive that night, and in doing so complete what they could not manage as kids.
Its very quickly established that although his friends have grown up and moved on with their lives, the moment Gary shows up its back to school for the boys. Having been coerced, against their better judgment, the old gang find themselves in their hometown where everything is not as it seems.
Even with the gap of several years, Pegg, Frost and Wright are also right back where they left off. The clever writing and pacing of the film, all arranged to coincide with the pub names they find themselves in. Although nothing flashy, Wright deftly directs the cast and crew to make something in his usual style, something wonderful and energetic. His real strength comes from his writing collaboration with Pegg, delivering characters and story completely different from anything we had seen in the previous two scoops. Nick frost for example plays against type by being the straight man as apposed to his usual goofy alter egos. He also gets some of the better action sequences, kicking some serious other worldly ass in the process.
Rounding out the cast are Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine and Eddie Marsan with the estrogen provided by Rosamund Pike. Each providing something entertaining and each having their own moment to shine, but none so touching as Eddie Marsan’s Peter, potentially the most haunted of the gang by the return to their old stomping ground. Having drawn on the United Kingdom’s best and brightest actors in the past and again here, it should not have come as much as a surprise as it did that they drew in a few more for some exceptional cameo roles. Keep those eyes and ears peeled people!
Overall it was as entertaining as the other two flavors, but it also did the unexpected for me, it enhanced the other two with their knowing nods to the past. The fence gag especially could have felt shoehorned into the story had it not been done well, and as the trailers have so gleefully shown, it did work and felt right as well as draw a big laugh from the crowd. As with both previous outings The World’s end will no doubt need multiple viewings to fully appreciate all the little in jokes and references that will be peppered throughout, and like those that came before the laughs will not fade away and it will be just as enjoyable on the tenth viewing as it was the first.
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