THIS REVIEW DOES NOT CONTAIN SPOILERS
So last night, I went to see the midnight screening of The World's End - in actual fact, one of my local cinemas was showing the entire 'Cornetto Trilogy' (which, for those who don't know, consists of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and finally The World's End) in a back-to-back screening. You can imagine, then, how pleased I was to see that the entire trilogy was being shown considering that Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are among my favourite films. So that leads us to the question - did the finale of the trilogy live up to its predecessors?
To give the review a bit of context, here is the synopsis of the film taken from the website Rotten Tomatoes...
" In "The World's End," 20 years after attempting an epic pub crawl, five childhood friends reunite when one of them becomes hellbent on trying the drinking marathon again. They are convinced to stage an encore by Gary King (Simon Pegg), a 40-year-old man trapped at the cigarette end of his teens, who drags his reluctant pals to their hometown and once again attempts to reach the fabled pub - The World's End. As they attempt to reconcile the past and present, they realize the real struggle is for the future, not just theirs but humankind's. Reaching The World's End is the least of their worries."
So that's the basic plot of the film. I'm not going to give anything away other than that, but what I will say is that the tone of the final film is definitely different from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. There are many more moments where the comedy is somewhat sedated (similarly to the point in SOTD where the zombies manage to get into the Winchester) and character development takes centre stage. Despite this slight alteration, the film is still very funny - I particularly found Oliver or 'O-Man', who is played by Martin Freeman, to be one of the more funny characters as many of his lines are delivered in an almost deadpan manner. As per usual, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's characters were suitably hilarious - however, in this film their roles are reversed somewhat. In the previous two films, Pegg plays the more savvy and quick-witted of the duo whereas Frost portrays the more imbecilic companion. In The World's End, however, Pegg's character Gary is hell-bent on having a good time (often with the aid of alcohol) who contrasts to Frost's Andy who is a stuck-up teetotal who wishes to have nothing to do with Gary's plans to retry the fabled Golden Mile.
As you might expect from a Wright/Pegg film, the script is top notch. There are a couple of little references to the previous films which help to cement the film's place in the trilogy while creating comedy, but it is the new jokes that are hysterical - during the climax there are moments of conversation that are very funny. That being said, I did think that the script was perhaps a little less funny than Shaun of the Dead (which I have seen nigh on ten times and still find hilarious) - but I'm probably biased, because SOTD has always been my favorite of the previous installations in the trilogy.
Finally, the cinematography in The World's End is definitely worth a mention - the transitions between scenes are done very well and there are some nice shots in the film (in more ways than one) which are very reminiscent of Wright's other films, namely the other films in the Cornetto trilogy.
So to summarise this review, I found The World's End to be an ending to the trilogy that has spanned almost ten years that is worthy of its place. It is a thoroughly enjoyable film, although the ending is a little bittersweet (and not just because it is the finale of the beloved Cornetto trilogy). I would definitely recommended it, but most especially to fans of Shaun of The Dead and Hot Fuzz.
" In "The World's End," 20 years after attempting an epic pub crawl, five childhood friends reunite when one of them becomes hellbent on trying the drinking marathon again. They are convinced to stage an encore by Gary King (Simon Pegg), a 40-year-old man trapped at the cigarette end of his teens, who drags his reluctant pals to their hometown and once again attempts to reach the fabled pub - The World's End. As they attempt to reconcile the past and present, they realize the real struggle is for the future, not just theirs but humankind's. Reaching The World's End is the least of their worries."
So that's the basic plot of the film. I'm not going to give anything away other than that, but what I will say is that the tone of the final film is definitely different from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. There are many more moments where the comedy is somewhat sedated (similarly to the point in SOTD where the zombies manage to get into the Winchester) and character development takes centre stage. Despite this slight alteration, the film is still very funny - I particularly found Oliver or 'O-Man', who is played by Martin Freeman, to be one of the more funny characters as many of his lines are delivered in an almost deadpan manner. As per usual, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's characters were suitably hilarious - however, in this film their roles are reversed somewhat. In the previous two films, Pegg plays the more savvy and quick-witted of the duo whereas Frost portrays the more imbecilic companion. In The World's End, however, Pegg's character Gary is hell-bent on having a good time (often with the aid of alcohol) who contrasts to Frost's Andy who is a stuck-up teetotal who wishes to have nothing to do with Gary's plans to retry the fabled Golden Mile.
As you might expect from a Wright/Pegg film, the script is top notch. There are a couple of little references to the previous films which help to cement the film's place in the trilogy while creating comedy, but it is the new jokes that are hysterical - during the climax there are moments of conversation that are very funny. That being said, I did think that the script was perhaps a little less funny than Shaun of the Dead (which I have seen nigh on ten times and still find hilarious) - but I'm probably biased, because SOTD has always been my favorite of the previous installations in the trilogy.
Finally, the cinematography in The World's End is definitely worth a mention - the transitions between scenes are done very well and there are some nice shots in the film (in more ways than one) which are very reminiscent of Wright's other films, namely the other films in the Cornetto trilogy.
So to summarise this review, I found The World's End to be an ending to the trilogy that has spanned almost ten years that is worthy of its place. It is a thoroughly enjoyable film, although the ending is a little bittersweet (and not just because it is the finale of the beloved Cornetto trilogy). I would definitely recommended it, but most especially to fans of Shaun of The Dead and Hot Fuzz.
To wrap up, here is the trailer for the film...
The World's End Poster was taken from:
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