"The World's End" opens today, which I was fortunate enough to see at the U.S. premire about a month ago. It was attended by the director Edgar Wright and two of the stars, Simon Peg, and Nick Frost. They first teamed up for 2004's zombie/comedy, "Shaun of the Dead". The plot is a mixture of zombies, a society that is crumbling, edgy humor, and a protagonist who is so self involved he doesn't seem to notice people are turning into zombies all around him. "Sean of the Dead" quickly became a cult classic. The second installment of this envisioned trilogy came in 2007 with the release of "Hot Fuzz". Starring Pegg and Frost, with Wright once again at the helm. I asked Edgar about the Trilogy aspect of these films and he told me that rather than being three films carrying a narrative with the same characters through out, this trilogy has the stars playing different characters with certain themes that bind the three films together. One of those things is Cornetto's which I assume is the English equivalent of Corn Nuts. Cornetto's turn up in all three films so this is known as the "Cornetto trilogy".
This brings us to this third installment, "The World's End". It is a bittersweet look at six friends from high school who now, twenty years later, are being rounded up to finish an epic pub crawl, begun in their youth, but never finished. The "golden mile" consists of twelve pints at twelve pubs in one night. The leader of the pack is the kind of guy everyone knows, 38 going on 18. Gary King, played by Pegg, was the leader of the clique in high school but somehow never realized his potential after graduation. As a matter of fact, twenty years has changed him little. Where his high school mates have matured into men and achieved success, King has somehow made all the bad choices that has kept him trapped in a teenage mindset. Funny stuff to be sure. Like the corporatization of the pubs in England. Every pub they go to looks like the one before. Old betrayals and jealousies bubble to the surface as these old drinking buddies work their way through the golden mile. About halfway through this movie, the science fiction aspect takes hold, and it shifts into high gear. Robots, aliens, space ships, and total annihilation lifts "The World's End" to a level not many films can achieve. I loved this movie and I dare say it is going to be the sleeper hit of the summer. If you like comedy you will love this movie. If you like sci/fi you will love this movie. I could go on about the plot but why ruin it for you? No spoilers here. This would be a good date movie. A little something for everyone.
I give "The World"s End" a solid A
