The World’s End

“The World’s End” serves as a fitting conclusion to Edgar Wright’s and Simon Pegg’s Three Cornettos trilogy while offering a satisfying mix of action and comedy that made “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” so special. “The World’s End’s” plot is simple but doesn’t feel dumbed-down or forced; five friends return to their dreary hometown to attempt a legendary pub-crawl they had failed as teenagers. Upon their return, they find out that the town’s citizens have been replaced with robots, and they must survive the night and complete the crawl. The story is much more personal than bashing in robot heads and dousing the would be heroes in blue robot blood as it explores the different dynamics of the friend group and goes into the back stories and motivations of the characters.  Gary (Simon Pegg), the group’s de facto leader, can’t escape his past and save for thinning hair and wrinkles and hasn’t grown up. Andrew, played by Nick Frost, is Gary’s former best friend and for reasons unknown, the least amicable member of the group. Oliver (Martin Freeman), is the stereotypical fussy realtor, and is always seen with his Bluetooth headset jammed in his ear. Steven (Paddy Considine) is a recently divorced architect and Gary’s former rival: competing for the affections of Oliver’s sister Sam. And the last member, Peter (Eddie Marsan) sells cars for his father in law and hasn’t changed from his tagalong nerd persona of adolescence. The lives and motivations of these characters are explored throughout the movie, and they all play specific roles that serve the story well. This characterization, something I felt was lacking from “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz”, gives “The World’s End” a more mature feel and makes the various plot twists more satisfying. At first “The World’s End” has a light, albeit melancholy, feel that gives a sense of lightheartedness and wry wit that has come to be expected from the films in the trilogy. The sharp left turn into the sci-fi action conspiracy genre channels “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and the climactic sequence gives off the same rebellious attitude set forth in “A Clockwork Orange.” The end result is satisfying and even led some of my fellow theater-goers to triumphant applause. The special effects work well, although they aren’t best in class, and the fight scenes are action packed and extraordinarily well choreographed; evoking the feel of a 90’s Jackie Chan film. Watching the group bash in robot heads with barstools, perform spectacular fight moves pulled straight from the WWE, and cower in bathroom stalls while blue goop soars through the air and coats the walls is surprisingly thrilling and works hand in hand with the comedy and witty writing. It doesn’t hurt that the five characters are stinking drunk throughout and watching them down a pint while ripping off a robot arm with a fountain of blue blood is a thing of beauty. Unfortunately, “The World’s End” doesn’t get everything right, although it’s missteps are rarely major. The final scene felt sudden and was a little jarring, and the movie falters a bit when diving too deeply into Gary’s motivations, which feels like more of an afterthought than a meaningful plot device. With that in mind however, these pitfalls rarely act against the overall tone and story of the film, and the conclusion is ultimately satisfying and uproariously funny to boot. I really enjoyed “The World’s End” and appreciated the action-comedy feel and nods to the first two films in the trilogy. While it wasn’t perfect, it served as a fitting conclusion to one of my favorite trilogies and is well worth the price of admission. I give “The World’s End” a 9/10.