So, what is The World's End? It's a buddy reunion film about five childhood best friends who are roped into reliving one of their childhood goals: their hometown's Golden Mile. A bar crawl of 12 pubs in one night. They didn't make it all the way when they were younger and now, their ring leader, Gary Knight (Simon Pegg) is determined to finish it this time. Why? Because that was the best night of his life and his life has not turned out the way he wanted. But it's never as easy as that when you're in a Cornetto Trilogy. There were zombies in Shaun of the Dead, murderous townspeople who wanted to keep the peace in Hot Fuzz and now, there are Stepford-like robots in World's End.
*BTW Cornetto: are those ice cream cones.
In Shaun of the Dead, Nick Frost's character eats a red (strawberry) one
In Hot Fuzz, Nick Frost's character eats a blue (Original) one
And a green (mint chocolate chip) one flies and hits a chain-link fence in World's End.
It's said that the red symbolizes the impending blood and gore.
The blue represents police.
While green is representative of aliens. All of which symbolize each film.
It really is quite clever.
Based on my eclectic taste in movies and TV, it comes as no real surprise when I like the Cornetto "Blood & Ice Cream" Trilogy with the trio Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright. It's campy British humor with plenty of blood, snarky remarks, geek and cult classic goodies. The first film, Shaun of the Dead is probably my favorite. It came out first. It was clever. It was a geek's take on zombies. Simon Pegg's character was identifiable and Nick Frost's character was annoyingly idiotic.
Hot Fuzz was less appealing much because I don't know much about the British cop world and Simon Pegg was more dry while Nick Frost being a bit more loveable than annoying. And then, came World's End. The third in the trilogy (and this "trilogy" term does not mean any of the characters or plots tie into one another).
World's End had a lot riding on it. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have gained fame from their previous duo movies (including Paul which was a geek's fantasy and made more for American audiences) and their cult classic discover of the TV show Spaced, in addition to their separate works.
So, when I decided to drag my friend (a Spaced fan who has seen a couple of episodes and watched Shaun of the Dead) to see the only showing of World's End at a last-week-running showing, I was apprehensive. I had friends who had already saw it and ranked it third in the trilogy. But I was extremely excited to drive a ways to a new theater to see it. This movie came out the same weekend as City of Bones and the two movies were not playing in a way I could manage to see both in the same weekend. And once I was ready to see World's End, my local theaters (3 different ones!) only had one showing on the weekend!
Here, let me get on my soapbox for a second: Tell me if this makes sense: World's End (3rd week in theaters) showing at 5:35pm. This Is The End (8th week in theaters) showing at 9:30, 11: 45, 1:50, 3:30, 5:45, 7:15, 9:30 and 11:15. How is that possible?! Simon Pegg/Nick Frost film is newer and has less shows!!! This is the End stars a plethora of actors from Stonedywood while World's End is a cult classic flick. Ugh. It frustrated me to no end that I couldn't go see World's End. But, after those theaters cast it aside, I found one for 11:35 on a weekend for only $5. My friend and I were the only ones in the theater and it was perfect! Okay, now I'll get off my soapbox.
Characters: Simon Pegg & Nick Frost are at it again. They have a clear bromance (that they are not ashamed of) that I deeply love and enjoy watching on the screen. You can tell that these guys are truly best friends in real life and it shows in their characters. This was the best of all their film characters in the trilogy (Paul is not part of their trilogy). And in this film, Nick Frost's character is your favorite of the duo. He's deeply loyal, a powerhouse to be reckoned with and a very strong character with morals and humanity. I absolutely loved Nick Frost in this. Simon Pegg's character was the frustrating one but at the same time, relateable and very human. The side characters all had their own personalities and I liked that they were not cardboard. I thought it was going to be a bit difficult with five best friends and you'd get lost but really, they were pretty simple. Kudos for that! Not to mention, the actors were all great.Pros: The bromance and the characters. The genuine feelings behind these characters. The potential quotes I will spout from this movie. The number of recycled actors.
Cons: It was not until the bathroom fight scene that I started to really get on the edge of my seat. And the ending was decent. It seemed a bit...rushed? A voice over explaining how things became and where everyone ended up. I was also slightly confused with The Network. Also, the editing was not as prevalent as the previous films. I'm used to Edgar Wright's quick cuts. This wasn't as noticeable.
Overall, not my favorite in the trilogy but there are parts that I loved, parts that I recognized as true skill in creating this world and parts that confused me. But I think this film shows they have come full-circle. Their acting has improved. Their writing has improved. They have a decent cult following. The thing about trilogies is that they're only three (unless they somehow decide to second-guess it and make another trilogy or delve into making a series). I loved Spaced. I wish that show continued past 14 episodes. And I cannot wait to see what is next for Simon Pegg & Nick Frost.
Would I go see it again? Yes.
Would I buy it? Originally, I said "It's on my Christmas/Birthday list. I won't go buy it right away but it's on my list" But I would like to own it some day.
Would I recommend it? For fans of the trilogy and Spaced, yes. For anyone who is outside the Cornetto trilogy? Probably not. It might be worth a rental to them but I don't think it'll stand on its own.
Rating: 7.5 - I really liked it and I kind of want to watch it again.
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