I have a confession to make. Many moons ago I watched ‘Shaun of the Dead’, coming to as a fan of Nick Frost from ‘Danger! 50,000 Volts’ and its sequel, with no knowledge of ‘Spaced’, and didn’t enjoy it. Now, I do plan to watch it again now I’m older to see if I misjudged it, but because of this I was wary of going to see ‘The World’s End’, the new film from the Pegg / Frost / Wright stable. But I’m glad I did as, for the most part, this was one of the funniest films I’ve seen in a while.
‘The World’s End’ tells the story of Gary King (Pegg) who decides to get his childhood friends back together to complete a 12-bar pub crawl that they never completed as young adults. Since those days the gang have left Newton Haven and all grown up, aside from King who only has this to bring meaning to life. He manages to convince his four friends to join him on the crawl but as they make their way around town, things are not as they seem.
‘The World’s End’ is a strong, character-driven film. Though much has been made of Pegg playing a much less likeable character in this piece, he makes the role his own and proves, following his scene-stealing turns in the new ‘Star Trek’ films (arguably the best role in the re-boots), that he certainly has plenty of acting strings to his bow. The four friends joining him – including Nick Frost and Martin Freeman – all embrace the plot well and there are some strong jokes in the opening section involving word play, their history and how chain pubs look similar.
The film’s script really shines and there are plenty of laughs to be had, alongside some well done choreographed fight scenes, especially one with Pegg trying to finish a pint. The characters are well drawn and the past and present all tie together neatly, with enough drama and character development to balance out the comedy.
A third in the sci-fi elements of the plot come into play and these compliment, rather than overshadow, the more down-to-earth character side and with the introduction of Rosamund Pike as ‘Sam’ gains momentum. It’s only as the film reaches its conclusion and its standoff with a higher power that it struggles to match the comedy up with quite a jingoistic shouting match, that feels more at home in a US-made disaster movie than a British effort, though the payoff is surprising and the conclusion, though bleak, does have its moments of continuity, though it does feel like an end that is at odds with the start.
I can’t comment on the film’s ability to fit nicely into the thematic trilogy as I’ve not seen ‘Hot Fuzz’, but as a standalone movie I really enjoyed it. The effects were convincing throughout but it was the humour and character development that really stood out for me, with more laugh-out loud jokes than I’ve seen in a film for a while. The ending feels a little bit awkward before resolving itself but otherwise it was a thoroughly enjoyable comedy, with Pegg and Frost shining throughout, supported by Freeman, Pike, Marsan and Considine.
8/10
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