British comedy duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, along with director Edgar Wright, have collaborated on modern cult classics “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz”. The third film in their self-titled “Cornetto” trilogy is “The World’s End”, a comedy about drinking beer and this past summer’s continuing theme of zombies that, by the end, is an example of the glass being only half-full.
Pegg plays middle-aged child Gary King. Twenty years ago, he and his buddies celebrated graduating from school by tackling the Golden Mile: 12 pubs in the England town of Newton Haven in one night. None of them made it to the end (the last pub is named “The World’s End”). Four of the friends have gone on with their lives and have jobs and relationships. Gary has not, and he still has the dream of completing the Golden Mile. So he decides to reunite the old gang: Andy (Frost), Oliver (“The Hobbit”‘s Martin Freeman), Peter and Steven, lying to them all to get them to agree to join him on this drunken trip down memory lane.
Like “This is the End” (another apocalyptic comedy from this summer) “The World’s End” has a set-up that’s better than its pay-off. The first half of the film, as we learn about each of these guys and Pegg gets to rip-off wise-cracks about each of them, is quite funny. The comedic style is a bit different since this is a British film. It’s quick, occasionally sharp, but much of the time blatantly obvious. But these five characters mix well together and the potenial was there for something special.
Then “The World’s End” gets purposefully ridiculous with the introduction of humans that aren’t really humans.
And even this doesn’t wreck things entirely, but the originality and off-beat humor starts to fade away. Soon the gang is fighting these creatures, who are filled with blue ink (not sure why), at almost every bar, in unimaginative scenes that go on way too long. And once the existance of these “blanks” becomes known, the plot ends and movie simply plays-out to an uninspired conclusion. The screenplay by Wright and Pegg tries to be too much: a comedy, zombie movie, social satire, parody of other comedy/zombie movies – with limited success. And it even gets a little serious a times, which felt way out of place.
The supporting cast includes Rosamund Pike (“Wrath of the Titans”), and British/Hollywood legends Pierce Brosnan and Bill Nighy.
It’s actually quite interesting that the MPAA doesn’t cite “excessive drinking” in their R-rated certification for “The World’s End”, because there’s plenty of that. There’s also adult language and references. It’s appropriate for older teens (you don’t have to be of legal drinking age). I was thirsting for a great end-of-the-summer comedy when I saw it the theater. Instead it left me a little dry. You’ve been warned.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “The World’s End” gets a C.