Director: Edgar Wright
Notable Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Rosamund Pike, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan, David Bradley, Bill Nighy, Pierce Brosnan
Well it’s finally the end, “The World’s End” that is and the end of Edgar
Wright’s three flavors Cornetto trilogy. It’s been awhile since “Hot Fuzz” came
out in 2007 but we are finally treated with the flawless chemistry between Nick
Frost and Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright in the director’s chair for at least one
last time. Except there is already one big difference; the role reversals of
our two leads. While Nick Frost usually plays the bumbling idiot, he is the
reasonable character in this film. This makes for a nice switcheroo, separating
the final film with the previous two. Being all comedy films, the Cornetto
trilogy are all different flavors of genre. “Shaun of the Dead” is with
zombie/horror, “Hot Fuzz” with action, and “The World’s End” actually fitting
elements of both with sc-fi. But the question is can “The World’s End” live up
to its two predecessors? Given the theater’s response, the answer is definitely
yes.
 |
“The World’s End” revolves around Gary King and his “entourage” of old high
school friends when he decides to finish off a bar crawl that was never
completed twenty years ago. King has never left those days, being a broke and
chronic alcoholic with a “not a care in the world” attitude. He contacts all
four of his friends which have established decent lives for themselves and
ruses them all to attend, especially the one that gave up on drinking, Andy
Knightley (played by Nick Frost). After plainly manipulating him and lying to
him, King convinces his toughest opponent and the pub crawl is underway. They
must make their way to twelve different pubs in order to finish the pub crawl
with the last one being the film’s title which also fits the description of the
film purposely. Just as things seem to be ending early with the others, most
notably Andy, with Gary’s irrational behavior, the town’s secret reveals itself
in the men’s washroom and things start to get even more interesting. Our
unlikely heroes have to overcome a town full of robot replacements (much like “Invasion
of the Body Snatchers”) being run by aliens before it is truly the world’s end.
Much like the two previous films, our third entry doesn’t fail to deliver
some excellent humor which shows its head in two ways; through dialogue and
physical comedy. The dialogue is excellent, though at times fast paced, so this
isn’t a lazy popcorn film at all which definitely gives it more merit. As a
matter of fact, he seems to even steal the show at times. When the action kicks
in, it’s absolutely a wonderful treat. The amount of dedication from cast and
crew in these scenes is clearly there with everyone seemingly having to learn
very impressive choreography and pulling it off flawlessly, especially Nick
Frost whose character has his head on straight for a change. The film was
actually under supervision of stunt coordinator Brad Allen, the only non-Asian
to ever make it in Jackie Chan’s stunt crew, so the amazing work definitely
shows. Given all of the film’s merits, there is however one thing that did get
on my nerves; Gary King. Unlike the last two films where Simon Pegg plays a
more straight character, Gary King is basically an immature adult teenager and
while I understand his fitting into the film, he just got a tad on my nerves a few times. I’m not a
fan of overly obnoxious characters, and oh boy is he ever obnoxious. Of course,
having to feel this way is probably the point, but I felt it was just a little
bit of overkill. The ending of the film is way more ambitious than anything in
the last two and bares its teeth showing off the film’s budget which is
definitely way larger than “Shaun of the Dead” or “Hot Fuzz.” I wasn’t big on
the choice of ending, but everyone is going to have their preferences.
What makes the Cornetto trilogy stand out among the crowd is that it is
absolute proof that a bigger budget does not equal a better movie. With the
films growing in budget however, Edgar Wright shows that bigger productions are
no problem for him as he can handle quite anything. Not only is the cast always
exceptional, but the crew is also. What makes the films great in this trilogy
is the excellent execution of all genres involved. It’s a comedic genre trilogy
and each one is embraced. These are films made by fans for fans and the
dedication is truly apparent. Even though I might favor “The World’s End” less
than “Hot Fuzz” and “Shaun of the Dead,” it is still an excellent film that
definitely deserves the praise. If only a huge bulk of Hollywood could take
notes from these films, as we find our popcorn entertainment going a little
stale. Edgar, Simon, and Nick, thanks for the ride. It was a good one.
Written By Elise Holmes
Of
No comments:
Post a Comment