The World’s End is a bit of funny one, in more ways than one. Most people will be going to the cinema expecting to see a film that has the same style and humour as the previous instalments, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, but the reality is, that’s not what you’re going to get. That’s not to say you should pass up the chance to see it. The World’s End is just as entertaining as its predecessors, but takes on a completely different tone that in a way sets it aside from the rest of the trilogy.
The World’s End sees Gary King (Simon Pegg) recruit his former childhood friends, including ex-best friend Andy (Nick Frost) to return to their home town of Newton Haven to have another go at the fabled Golden Mile, a 12 stop pub crawl that ended prematurely in their teens. But (as you’ll already know) things have changed quite a bit since and they’ll have to put all their differences aside if they’re going to survive the night.
From the word go, you’ll notice that something’s different. Not quite how you remembered (Perhaps it’s a metaphor for the robots taking over Newton Haven). The tone set in the opening scene seems quite serious, unlike what we’ve previously seen which may make you feel a little disorientated. The humour (at first) is not outrageous or littered with cultural references but comes more from how the supporting characters react to Gary’s obnoxious and self-appreciative personality (until the robots come in of course).
On that similar note, the characters themselves are all fairly realistic, as though they could exist in everyday life. As opposed to how Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz got laughs for the characters’ abnormal behaviour, The World’s End relies more on the dialogue, which for the most part comes through nearly well. They are all people who have moved on with their lives, whereas Gary is stuck in the past.
After a fairly slow start getting to know the participants, things really start to kick off when they discover the truth about what was happened to Newton Haven. From that point the film really picks up, getting more laughs, more energetic and more drunk, with dismembered robots spewing out thick, blue ink and a string of incidents that lead them to a hilarious climax. A sinister overtone remains throughout, especially when whole streets just stop and stare in eerie fashion, but it blends well once the comedy becomes more of what you expect from the final instalment of the Cornetto Trilogy.
Martin Freeman (Oliver), Eddie Marsan (Peter), Paddy Considine (Steven) and Rosamund Pike (Sam) are all a delight in this film, all getting the spotlight at some point in the film and managing to blend in with the Pegg-Frost duo, without them merely becoming the tag-alongs.
But as I said at the beginning of this review, The World’s End doesn’t seem to fit the pattern which in some sense is a little tragic, but in others rather liberating. Both Wright and Pegg said that they never intended it to be a trilogy (despite there being clear connections between the first and second) and The World’s End seems to be a deliberate statement to make this clear. There is a lack of cultural references, cameo appearances and in-jokes from the previous films. Even the Cornetto reference is very passive and doesn’t follow the pattern, but at the end of the day, I think that’s exactly what the film is meant to be.
It’s undoubtedly the weakest of the three, but The World’s End remains an entertaining piece of film that shouldn’t be missed. Fans will just have to accept that they’re not going to be watching the same thing, just with a different plot line.