The World's End
Don't Go! About as enjoyable as a pint of lukewarm Fosters.
Binge drinking prevents alien invasion!
Without spoiling it, I can tell you that the driving force behind The World's End is the consumption of beer. Loads and loads of the stuff. In an age of gluten-free diets, low-carb lunches and getting a nicotine fix from a usb stick, this film comes stumbling out of a swinging saloon door that had long seemed closed. Could binge drinking finally be making a hilarious (hic!) comeback (burp)?
The film is the conclusion of the "Cornetto Trilogy" – three flicks by director and co-writer, Edgar Wright made up of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and finally this, The World's End. Like the familiar cone shaped desserts, the first two films were sweet and creamy with irreverent humour, but laced with a vibrant, colourful swirl that separated them from the typically plain scoops of vanilla British film comedy.
The film is the conclusion of the "Cornetto Trilogy" – three flicks by director and co-writer, Edgar Wright made up of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and finally this, The World's End. Like the familiar cone shaped desserts, the first two films were sweet and creamy with irreverent humour, but laced with a vibrant, colourful swirl that separated them from the typically plain scoops of vanilla British film comedy.
In each of the first two films, things were never quite as they first seemed. Both featured a very ordinary no-hoper (typically played by the ever-present and now tremendously-overrated Simon Pegg) challenged to excel in extraordinary circumstances. In Shaun, we were treated to a love story - could the boy (Pegg) get the girl back, even amongst a very English zombie epidemic? In Hot Fuzz - could the London cop (Pegg) that had fallen from grace redeem himself in a sleepy West Country town, even amongst a bunch of clandestine, gun-hungry, homicidal and xenophobic psychopaths? And in The World's End, the pattern remains - can Gary King (Pegg), former schoolboy legend of “Newton Haven”, get his gang back together 20-odd years later to find closure and recreate the famous 12-pub pub-crawl that the five lads never finished... amongst an alien invasion of high and mighty body swappers?
Of course he does! But unlike its elder siblings, the film fails to bring sharpness and warmth to the screen. Laughs are limited to a mere spattering of chuckles and the film languishes too heavily on the side of tragedy than comedy. Much of this is down to Pegg's character, Gary King - a drug and alcohol addict who wallows in his teenage past. Somehow, we are supposed to find a lot of amusement in his binge drinking relapse and miserable existence, but it simply not funny enough to make that situation… funny. In particular, the script feels like it was written decades ago, and lacks the refreshing pizazz and satirical humour that made Shaun and Fuzz so loved. Even the fine squad of accomplished actors - including Martin Freeman (The Hobbit) Paddy Considine (The Bourne Ultimatum) and the chubby, excellent and underrated Nick Frost – cannot inject sufficient fizz into this otherwise flat brew.
Of course he does! But unlike its elder siblings, the film fails to bring sharpness and warmth to the screen. Laughs are limited to a mere spattering of chuckles and the film languishes too heavily on the side of tragedy than comedy. Much of this is down to Pegg's character, Gary King - a drug and alcohol addict who wallows in his teenage past. Somehow, we are supposed to find a lot of amusement in his binge drinking relapse and miserable existence, but it simply not funny enough to make that situation… funny. In particular, the script feels like it was written decades ago, and lacks the refreshing pizazz and satirical humour that made Shaun and Fuzz so loved. Even the fine squad of accomplished actors - including Martin Freeman (The Hobbit) Paddy Considine (The Bourne Ultimatum) and the chubby, excellent and underrated Nick Frost – cannot inject sufficient fizz into this otherwise flat brew.
There are of course some entertaining moments - after all, it's a movie that cost millions of pounds. Some dramatic and well-choreographed fight scenes appear from nowhere, and the gradual unfolding of the sci-fi storyline is reasonably interesting; as are a couple of set-piece jokes and some elegant cinematography. But overall this comes across as a film about a man trying to recapture life in the nineties, which probably should have been released in the nineties. Men Behaving Badly doesn't re-run on TV for a reason, and necking 12 pints if you're a suicidal alcoholic and saying "f*** off" a lot, just isn't funny enough on its own any more; even if there are heaps of alien-humanoids running around while you're doing it.
So don't go to this one. It'll be on Channel Four before you know it, but maybe don't even watch it then. Watch Hot Fuzz instead. That film still offers ice cold refreshment, even if this latest Cornetto sadly melts away.
So don't go to this one. It'll be on Channel Four before you know it, but maybe don't even watch it then. Watch Hot Fuzz instead. That film still offers ice cold refreshment, even if this latest Cornetto sadly melts away.
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