The World’s End (2013), directed by Edgar Wright, was the third movie added to the both famous and hilarious cornetto trilogy, joining Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Hot Fuzz (2007); but did this film really live up to expectations?
The gang is back together / Picture Credit: Working Title Films
Quite frankly, we’d say no. There are many things that highlighted the other two films to such an extent that they became comedy classics, indoctrinated into the movie Hall of Fame, but The World’s End just fell so short of what made the previous additions so brilliant.
The movie follows Gary King (Simon Pegg), a man who is stuck in his teenage years and can’t seem to get over one single night of drinking with his friends after finishing high school. Gary decides that it’s been too long and goes to see the four lads he went out with that night; but not to catch up...
The golden mile is what Gary wants; 12 pints in 12 pubs in the town of Newton Haven. Somehow, he gets everyone to agree to come with him and, once there, they already regret letting Gary King into their lives once more. Not only do they reminisce about the old days, they realise that now they’re home, things are looking a little too familiar...
The themes that made Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz so great were still present in this movie, just not done as well. One thing the film did do well was the casting; the collection of features use the same actors throughout, whether it be for a short role or a fully-fledged character.
Here, we see Martin Freeman, who played more minor roles in the other two movies, we see Paddy Considine who was in Hot Fuzz as one of the Andys, and so on. This running theme of reoccurring characters is what connects the films of course, but utilises them so their roles are different each time creating a new and still fresh feel to each film.
Another running gag would be the fence shortcut Simon Pegg’s character always uses; we were definitely happy to see this in The World’s End as while the rest of the film didn’t feel like it belonged within the trilogy, the inclusion of the shortcut edged it ever so slightly in.
The comedy, admittedly, was still rather strong. In spite of Gary’s overly annoying character, he still reeled off some pretty good lines and bounced off the other characters, sometimes in quick succession, creating a kind of ping-pong effect of comedy.
Despite these minor saving graces, The World’s End is still a pretty rough ride. Gary is an overly obnoxious character, and while sometimes his ignorance can be rather amusing, most of the time it simply comes across as highly irritating as he swirls his long coat and shouts way too loud at absolutely everyone. While his childish attitude symbolises his inability to move on from his teens, it is still annoying to watch a grown man act this way.
Gary’s supposed best friend, Andy (Nick Frost), is a slightly different version of every character Frost has played in the trilogy. In the other movies, Frost’s character is always a little dim-witted and let’s face it, rather stupid; that’s what makes the films so great. His naïve attitude serves as a way for Pegg’s character to help him out; it creates a wonderful rapport between the two.
However here, Andy is a well-off and intelligent lawyer, which is slightly odd and doesn’t keep in with the other characters he’s played. Not only that, but his character is overly critical and usually with the same line about how Gary has nothing to worry about and that he's selfish and crude; it grates on you the more you watch.
As for the plot... unfortunately it seems that someone dropped the ball here. When the group of men get back to their hometown, they comment that things are still the same and that it’s weird being back; there is nothing noticeably eerie or unsettling that leads to the events to come.
It seems like a simple narrative as the group go drinking and try to live the old days out again (more for Gary’s sake than their own), but a fight in the men’s toilets shows them all that Newton Haven isn’t as it seemed; it’s been taken over by robots.
That’s where we cut the cord; the other two movies in this trilogy were self-contained in a way: Hot Fuzz had its cult and Shaun of the Dead had its zombies, and both stayed within those boundaries – it’s what made them so unique.
In The World’s End, however, the inclusion of robots was odd enough, but to include supremely intelligent aliens and talks of conquering the world on top of this was just too far-fetched. Nothing after the bathroom fight seemed to make any sense at all.
Ultimately, The World’s End is a bit of a let-down. While there are running gags and recycling of actors in its favour, that couldn’t save the fact that this movie was a complete and utter mess from start to finish; and not one person ate a cornetto.
Watch the trailer for The World's End below!
Written by Melissa, who you can follow on Twitter @melissajournal
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The cornetto trilogy is a brilliant collection of Pegg and Frost-fronted movies; the trilogy consists of Hot Fuzz of course, along with Shaun of the Dead (2004) and The World’s End (2013). Each movie has what makes it funny, but at the heart of all these laughs and jokes, are the team of Pegg, Frost, and director Edgar Wright...
Tagged in Simon Pegg Nick Frost Comedy films