Edgar Wright’s The World’s End will leave you thirsty
Article: Daylene Sliz – Contributor
source: imdb.com
Genre: Comedy
Released: August 23, 2013
Run time: 109 minutes
Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan, and Rosamund Pike
Gary King is plagued by memories of his “glory days” and obsessed with the unfinished “Golden Mile” pub crawl 20 years earlier when he and his friends were young men. Gary entices his reluctant comrades through subterfuge to embark on a re-enactment of their infamous drinking marathon in Newton Haven with the goal of “12 pubs 12 pints” and to finally reach the apex: the legendary World’s End pub. Unbeknownst to them, their old hometown has morphed into a homogenizing Body Snatcher-esque village of the damned inhabited by creepy Stepford-like robots. What starts out as a pub crawl turns into a race to see who will survive long enough to quaff the last frothy pint at The World’s End.
The World’s End is an entertaining, laugh out loud, rollercoaster ride of epic, manic and distorted proportions. Thanks to brilliant co-writing conspirators, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, the team who also penned Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, this third and final film in the unofficially titled Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy leaves a bittersweet yet sudsy taste in your mouth.
Rosamund Pike rounds out the stellar cast as Oliver’s sister, Sam, and love interest to both Gary and Stephen. A former 007 and a splash of characters from the other two films in the trilogy makes cameos including Mary the “drunk” zombie in Shaun’s backyard garden.
If you’ve seen Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, you will be familiar with the clever but blink-and- you’ll-miss use of hip hop montage (or fast cutting) derived from the hip hop culture and jump cuts of the French New Wave filmmaking. If you haven’t, you will thoroughly enjoy the unique editing technique common in all three films.
The chemistry between the characters is genuine, some fight sequences surreal, and the soundtrack of ‘80s and ‘90s tunes, including British rock acts like Pulp, Blur, Sisters of Mercy, and Suede, a cut from The Doors, and some pop will satisfy most everyone’s tastes.
Where the movie falls a bit flat is Gary’s sometimes clichéd drunkard behaviour, some predictable plot twists, an awkward and ill-conceived climax, a lengthy and strange prologue, and a rather sad and abrupt ending.
But if you enjoy cheeky British humour, crazed fembots, awesome pub brawls and fight scenes, farcical sight gags, and action sequences woven throughout the movie, you will enjoy The World’s End. It’s also about friendship, ordinary people doing extraordinary things, and it delivers a sobering social message. There is so much more to this movie than meets the eye. Prepare to be thirsty after this one!
Rating: 3.5 Beers out of 5
