Movie Review - The World's End

The World's End

Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan, Rosamund Pike, Pierce Brosnan, David Bradley, and more.

Directed by: Edgar Wright Written by: Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright Cinematography by: Bill Pope Original Music by: Steven Price

Premise: Gary King wants to recapture his glory days from High School. Lying, cheating, and scraping, he convinces his old friends to agree to relive (and this time hopefully complete) the Golden Mile - a drinking marathon through the twelve pubs in their home town ending at The World's End. Yet as they begin the crawl, and all his friends want nothing more than to go home, an unexpected obstacle comes their way - androids. (Rated R)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Simon Pegg was funny and pitiable in his role as Gary King. Nick Frost did great work showing his disgust for all that had been lost and later fighting for it. Martin Freeman was adorable as Oliver, the realtor. It was awesome seeing Pierce Brosnan again.

2) Special Effects - Total Thumbs Up: The special effects might not be up to the standards of big productions, but what they had was definitely well done. The androids looked great, especially the walking behemoths. The work with Oliver's head was fantastic. A real nice job on the final view of the town, too.

3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Up: Though filled with definite humor, the story of the film has several serious themes running through it - longing for times past, regrets, unrequited love, the guilt of mistakes. Until the androids show up, the story had turned rather somber - perhaps too much so. There are a few repeated jokes that were quite amusing - especially the one about Gary's Mom.

For a bit of unexpected depth, several of the characters have secrets. These get slowly peeled back, one at a time, and are revealed through the long night.

For those who've enjoyed other Simon Pegg and Nick Frost films, there's the added treat of several in-jokes tying back to their previous films.

4) Stunts - Total Thumbs Up: I heartily applaud the great choreography on the fight scenes - especially the one in the bathroom. Probably the best and smoothest fights I've seen all summer - and I've seen a lot of them. Android Fu for the win!

5) Locations/Cinematography - Total Thumbs Up: There's a super nice shot of the town as the guys drive to their destination - makes a nice contrast for when we see the same view towards the end. The look and feel of several of the pubs were great. They even had fun with the locations which added to the humor.

Conclusion: "The World's End" is a quirky, slightly depressing, yet also amusing film. Definitely one to see with your buddies.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Better for Matinee)