The new British comedy from writer/director Edgar Wright and
co-writer/star Simon Pegg, The World’s End, is an absolute hoot! This is
their third collaboration, following Shaun of the Dead ( 2004) and Hot
Fuzz (2007), both of which were also quite funny. If you enjoyed either of
those pictures, you’ll surely love this one. If not, this one is a good place
to start. It is certainly the most ambitious and most accomplished of the three,
and quite possibly the best.
Shaun of the Dead hilariously skewered foggy-headed
slackers (and, by extension, aimless young folks generally) in the context of a
zombie invasion. Hot Fuzz farcically set its parody of big budget
American shoot-em-up cop movies (Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, etc.) in the kind of snug,
picturesque English village where Ms. Marple might live.
The World’s End centers on the efforts of a guy called
Gary King (Pegg) who becomes obsessed with the idea of reuniting his former
high school chums to recreate an epic pub crawl - five friends, twelve pubs, twelve pints - that
the five of them first attempted upon graduation twenty years ago. Back then they never quite made it to their
final destination, a tavern called The World’s End. Then, as now, King is the charismatic,
if slightly deranged, ringleader of the group, but now, twenty years on, the rest of
the chaps have grown up and find it hard to share his juvenile enthusiasm. One’s an estate agent (realtor), another is a
car dealer, another is a successful lawyer. But, of course, they all agree to
come anyway.
So on one level, this is a buddy film, in which we get to
know the characters through their interactions, their personality conflicts,
the dredging up of adolescent lore and fantasies. Every member of the gang is a
well-etched character. In addition to
Pegg, there’s Nick Frost – who was also featured in Shaun and Fuzz, and was
Pegg’s buddy character in Paul (2011); the ever wonderful Martin Freeman
(The Hobbit, Sherlock [BBC series], Love Actually); Paddy
Considine (also in Hot Fuzz); and Eddie Marsan (Vera Drake, Sherlock
Holmes [2009]).
None of these guys lives in their provincial village anymore,
but it’s still there. What’s different is that the guys aren’t kids anymore, the
pubs have become homogenized, and the patrons are, well, sort-of-but-not-quite
normal. The boys don’t notice this at first, but when they do, the story takes
a galvanizing, sci-fi turn, which adds some excitement and the opportunity for
the kind of goofy mayhem that Wright loves. Additional acting kudos go to
Pierce Brosnan, as the very assured and smarmy villain, and Rosamund Pike, as
Freeman’s comely sister, for whom all of the other guys lusted back in
the day.
The World’s End is built to be a comedy., and it most
definitely is that. There’s a bit of silly preaching at the end, but it doesn’t
detract. There’s a more serious theme as well, one that also runs through
Wright’s earlier work: a complaint against the “Starbucksization” of our world.
It’s cleverly and humorously observed here, enhancing, rather than intruding on
the wit.
The World’s End is one of the funniest
pictures I’ve seen this year. Check it out.
In current release.
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