Short Verdict: The mint-green finale of Wright-Pegg-Frost’s Cornetto Trilogy sees the trio bow out in spectacular fashion. Confidentially balancing bizarre tonal/genre shifts and dark, twisted humour, The World’s End lacks the broad appeal of the previous Cornetto films but is all the more memorable for it.
In
2004, writer-director Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost burst onto the
film screen, following the cult success of the TV show Spaced, with Shaun of the
Dead. Balancing a romantic comedy with a zombie apocalypse plot, the trio
were clear in undermining and experimenting with comedy and genre. The second
film in the trilogy, 2007’s Hot Fuzz,
followed a big-city city policeman moving to a small village which concluded
with a Bad Boys-esque action scene in
a Safeway supermarket. Again, the trio were clear in undermining genre films to
supply the humour. The World’s End
takes undermining genre and comedy to its ultimate extreme. Simon Pegg plays
Gary King, one of the most despicable protagonists in British cinema (and all
the better for it), who wants to return to the small village where he grew up,
Newton Haven, to complete the Golden Mile, an epic pub crawl through the
village’s 12 pubs, which went uncompleted in his youth. He recruits his former
friends through lies and deception, who have all moved on, got careers and
families and thoroughly hate Gary (Gary is still stuck in the 1990s). The gang
includes Andrew (Nick Frost, in a role that is the polar opposite of his
previous Cornetto characters), Steven
(Paddy Considine), Oliver (Martin Freeman) and Peter (Eddie Marsan). The gang
soon uncover a more insidious side to the village as they discover the locals
have been replaced by robots by an insidious alien race. However, hook-or-by-crook,
Gary will complete the Golden Mile and reach The World’s End pub. Bowing out of
the trilogy is an excellent ensemble cast. Made up of the crop of British TV
and film stars, the film takes its time in establishing each character and
their relation to each other. In fact, this is where we spend most of the first
act of the film. Best of all there are cameos from many unexpected faces which
I won’t dare spoil here.
One of
the strongest aspects of the film comes from its confident shifts in tone and
humour. Without giving away the last act, the film shifts between silly
slapstick, witty one-liners, clever wordplay and black comedy encased in a film
that begins as “let’s-get-the-gang-back-together” light hearted plot but
evolves into a serious look at the consequences of growing up, along with a
sci-fi invasion narrative. Wright completely throws the rule book out of the
window and presents a story that is strong to shift between these quite frankly
bizarre different threads. It’s a miracle the whole thing holds up the way it
does. Normally, at the centre of a Cornetto
film, the madness and silliness is anchored by the central duo, Pegg and Frost.
The camaraderie and friendship between the two guides the audience along in
this sea of madness. However, this time that is not the case. In The World’s End, the two had a bitter
falling out (which I won’t spoil the reasons why) that led to a great degree of
alienation – these former “thick-as-thieves” friends are now distant from each
other. This element of the story makes up a great deal of the serious and
darker side of the film. All Gary wants to do is reclaim his youth but the
others, especially Andrew, have clearly moved on. Since Gary is such an
unlikeable (but, oddly, likeable) character and that central friendship isn’t
there as in previous Cornetto films, some audiences may struggle to latch onto
the film’s central themes and ideas. However, it is this more radical approach
that makes The World’s End such an
interesting film, especially in the context of the trilogy. A deeper analysis
of the trilogy, that would give away elements of The World’s End, maybe required revealing more depth to this film’s
themes. This more brave and radical approach to the story makes The World’s End a different beast to Shaun and Hot Fuzz but arguably is more commendable for doing so.
Outside
of this central idea, the film offers excellent action scenes, brilliant
humour, strange tonal shifts and a wealth of quotable line. The twists the
story takes will surprise, maybe even delight, maybe even infuriate, audiences
leading to a brilliant conclusion which I won’t spoil here. As always, Wright’s
kinetic energy style of filmmaking is kicked into full-gear but knows when to
slow down for the darker and more emotional scenes. While not to everyone’s
taste, and certainly not what a lot of audiences are expecting, The World’s End will probably become the
dark horse of the trilogy. Repeated viewings reveal further depth and nuisance
to the story and characters, which thus makes it all the more funny. Destined
to become a cult classic, The World’s End
offers an extremely entertaining, and unexpected, journey back to a youthful
past, supported by brilliant characters, excellent script and schizophrenic
tonal shifts. With this final film in the trilogy, Wright, Pegg and Frost have
created cornerstones of 21st century British cinema – look forward
to re-watching all of them as one viewing and the endless repeats on ITV 2!
Highly recommended.
Long Verdict: With
this final film in the Cornetto trilogy, Wright, Pegg and Frost undermine many
of the themes from the previous, employing strange tonal shifts, a wide variety
of comedy (many much darker than previous films in the trilogy) and a thoroughly
unlikeable central hero. These are all positives. Destined to become a cult
classic, The World’s End may not be
to everyone’s taste, or what viewers were expecting, but it is this more
radical approach that mass audiences need. Endlessly funny and entertaining,
this comes highly recommended.
Score: 9/10
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