The World's End

Wouldn't you know it, Simon Pegg and his mate Nick Frost are in another film where they are battling to survive in small town England. They defeated a murder conspiracy in ‘Hot Fuzz’, survived a zombie massacre in ‘Shaun of the Dead’ and now fight an army of alien robots in ‘The World’s End’! If you enjoyed their two previous films, then you’ll probably love ‘The World’s End’ too.

A monologue from Simon Pegg’s character (Gary King) about when he and his friends attempted and failed to conquer a pub crawl in their youth (The Golden Mile) sets the scene for the film. King having not moved on mentally from his teens goes on a mission to enlist his old chums in a reattempt on The Golden Mile. While King’s friends have all moved on with their lives and are successful with their careers, wives and families, King has not. This disparity between King and his old school pals circumstances becomes something of a hand break on the comedy in the opening scenes of the film. Then before you know it, the movies in full swing with the discovery of the robots and the main characters fight for survival. With all the seriousness gone and the level of the characters intoxication up, it’s a laugh a minute as you no longer have to worry about King’s unsuccessful life and the gap that has grown between him and his friends.

It’s not surprising that the three aforementioned films are similar when you consider that all three were written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, with Edgar in the director’s chair for each.  The film had a good pace and was surprisingly good in its action and effects. The fight scenes were so well choreographed, it had me wondering how these 30 something’s, who grew up in a small town and now have white collar jobs, could fight so well. The special effects too were surprisingly effective for a mid budget film with very little CGI.

Pegg and Frost share the stage with three others as they set off on a quest to recapture their youth, but it’s the two of them that provide most of the films laughs. The other most notable actor in the gang is Martin Frost, known most recently his role as a young Bilbo Baggins on the Hobbit. Rosamund Pike (Jack Reacher, Pride and Prejudice) plays the films love interest and we even get something of a cameo appearance by Pierce Brosnan playing one of the head robots.

The film is an entertaining watch when the movie gets to the main action of the story line. Simon and Nick are solid as usual with expert delivery and timing. My belief is that the film could have been better if it had just stuck to one tone as opposed to going from serious, to whacky, to downright silly. I give it a 6 out of 10.