Film Review: The World’s End
The World's End is a much bigger film than the last two and goes to show that given to the right people a bigger budget can go a long way.
The third installment of Edgar Wright’s fabled Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy is set to hit Australian theatres this Thursday August 1st, and it’s awesome. Aptly titled The World’s End (in more ways than one), the film completes the trilogy of comedy films directed by Edgar Wright, written by Wright and Simon Pegg, and starring Pegg and Nick Frost, which included Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.
The story centers around five friends who are reunited after 20 years to compete a pub-crawl across their hometown of Newton Haven. Brought together at the urging of one of the old friends Gary King, the once fateful leader who chose never to move past his 20’s or out of the old town, the group reluctantly embarks on to what turns into a fight to save the world.
It is a much bigger film than the last two and goes to show that given to the right people a bigger budget can go a long way, with a budget almost 5 times that of Shaun of the Dead they didn’t waste it, the effects are fantastic. In terms of direction, Wright just keeps getting better and better. His shot composition is spot on throughout and the pace at which the action is set up and played out is phenomenal. The action sequences involving Gary (Pegg) trying to have his pint are spectacular, and when Andy (Frost) snaps and turns on all the “Blanks” like a rugby player I couldn’t help but think of the words from his character in Paul; ”it’s not fat, it’s power”.
There are lots of little clues placed throughout the film leaning to plot outline as well as the continuation of imagery and scene setup that fans of the trilogy will surely appreciate and admire. There is almost a beat to it. The dialogue is very funny and at times quite silly, however I never found it to be predictable, which is refreshing in its self but a skill that Wright and Pegg own.
The film has it all; a desperate man trying to hold onto the past, a story of unrequited love, quarrels among old friends, the fight for freedom, personal realisation, a pub crawl and lightbulb-faced aliens. What’s not to love?
Get out there and watch it, well worth the big screen dollars, and you come home knowing that you are supporting some very talented and funny people who will surely continue to entertain us in the future.
THE WORLD’S END
Directed by: Edgar Wright
Written by: Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg
Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Rosamund Pike
Released by: Working Title Films / Universal Pictures