The best thing, worst thing, and main thing about “The World’s End” in about the time it takes to watch the trailer.
REVIEW TEXT
Dear Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright, and Nick Frost. Don’t ever stop making movies together. or I will gather an army, hunt you down, and murder you in your sleep. Wait, that might be counter productive. Just don’t stop k?
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“The World’s End” is the third in a loose trilogy of films from Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright, and Nick Frost. Preceded by the Zombie flick “Shaun of the Dead” and Action flick “Hot Fuzz”, this movie once again takes an established genre of movie (this time, sci-fi apocalypse) and honors it with a movie that both fits into the genre and lightly pokes fun at it at the same time. This one (once again written by Pegg and Wright and directed by Wright) stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as two of 5 friends who reunite in their old hometown to relive the past, and what happens when things in their town aren’t exactly as they seem.
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First thing. This movie is hilarious. Not that that’s a surprise. I mean, if you saw either of the previous films, you know that this combination of people is a recipe for laughs. It’s one of those movies I will have to see again, not just because I want to, but because I missed half of it when I couldn’t hear the lines over the laughter in the theater. Granted there is a lot to love here even beyond the humor, but I still say it’s the best thing about “The World’s End”. It’s just so refreshing to see a movie so effortless and intelligently earn it’s laughs. Sure, it’s a rated R comedy, and it obtains that rating easily, but the movie never relies on shock or disgust to carry the humor, understanding that real laughs come from clever writing and good timing, and also hit on multiple levels. Speaking of multiple levels, this film not only works as a comedy, but also a decently suspenseful sci-fi flick AND a powerful metaphor about escaping adolescence. When the film takes a Science Fiction turn about halfway in it would be easy for it to seem silly, but because the actors take it seriously so do we, and therefore it delivers some pretty nail biting action. And the story’s incredible take on what it means to grow to adulthood and feel forced to conform and how we fight that is brilliantly subtle yet emotionally engaging. I don’t know that everyone will see it, but I think Pegg and Wright have written something here that is as deep and meaningful as many of the Oscar bait films being released around it, if not more. And I haven’t even started to talk about the music choices, or the fight choreography, or the incredible editing, or the PERFORMANCES. Oh my goodness, the performances. Simon Pegg is brilliant as that over the top jokester that can’t let go of the glory years, and has some emotional moments that prove his acting chops are as finely tuned as his sense of comedic timing. It’s an incredible performance and yet another tally on his scorecard as one of my favorites working today. Frost is great as the former best friend in need of healing, and Martin Freeman is incredible as usual as another of the five. The final two of which are played by Paddy Considine and Eddie Marsan who, though I’ve never heard much of before, were a perfect addition to this crew. Yeah. I loved this movie.
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Soooooo, worst thing, eh. Well, if you twist my arm… the only thing that felt a little off for me was the end. After what I considered to be the climax and resolution the movie gave us about 10 minutes of epilogue. Most of which didn’t necessarily seem to further the meaning of the story or really tell us anything we needed to know. It just felt like it could have wrapped up a bit quicker. Although it was still pretty funny stuff, so I probably shouldn’t complain.
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It’s really kind of simple. If you liked Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz you will love “The World’s End”. In my opinion it may even be the best of the three films. It’s clever, meaningful, well acted, and hilarious in such a way that even the unnecessary extended ending is fun. Nick… Simon… Edgar… Thank you. The World’s End gets and A.
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