The World’s End – 4/5 – Movie Reviews by Ry!
The World’s End – 4/5 – British Comedies; you will either love or hate these kinds of films. Regardless of what you think, there is something this subgenre. Whereas most common comedies rely upon situations, objects or forcible line delivery, these comedies rely upon the acting, combining it with social context. Even when a British comedy does this, an Edgar Wright film takes these elements, and forces it into the surreal, while using the star duo of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. In this film, their talent is on display, as the surreal happens and all just goes beyond logical means. Even when the story lines bend into the most ridiculous, you will still find some charm in The World’s End.
Premise: 20 years after a failed attempt, five friends reunite in an attempt to top an epic pub crawl. A journey meant for drinking unwittingly becomes humankind’s last hope for survival.
In this film, majority of it centers around five friends, who are as followed:
Simon Pegg as Gary King
Nick Frost as Andy Knightley
Martin Freeman as Oliver Chamberlain
Paddy Considine as Steven Prince
Eddie Marsan as Peter Page
I could go into a deep discussion as how they are great in their individual acting, but that comes with the territory. In a quick explanation, as individuals, they provide distinct characters. Within their acting, they provide their own kind of charm that adds ‘colorful’ tact to the comedic elements. When these actors are together, performing within their group as ‘friends’, they give real quality of human reverence. In providing this kind of depth, you grasp the ideas that define ‘friendship’, and the kind of passion that develops between them. This allows you to laugh, feel warm, and be shocked when things go haywire, action intensifies, and hilarity ensues. Within these elements, the whimsical bantering between the guys is both socially awkward and outright hilarious. What makes this a winning combination is the subtlety of their past history combined with social and technological aspect of modern times. This also makes the film’s direction very unique and wonderful. As for the rest of the supporting cast, you have some familiar faces (Pierce Brosnan and Rosamund Pike) and unfamiliar ones (Michael Smiley and David Bradley). Even though these actors are essential to the film, they don’t do much other then provide ‘convenience’ for the plot progression.
To describe this film’s story development and direction, you will have to go into a difference of perspectives. This perspective is that the obvious is not what it seems. I mention this because for a film directed by Edgar Wright; you will always be given some ‘realism’ premise, but it will eventually lead into elements of the surreal. This fanaticism is a blessing and a curse, because it subjects you to a specific audience, regardless who is watching. In the first act, we are introduced to the five friends, as we get the basic history that defines the purpose of the film. In their younger days, they attempted what is deemed the ‘Golden Mile’; Drinking a pint at 12 Pubs in one night. Through some fateful decisions, they never made it to the final pub, The World’s End. Flash forward 20 years, and Gary get’s the band back together to attempt it one final time. When they return to the town, it starts off very well, but all is not what it seems to be in their hometown. In the beginning, you see that the friends have grown apart over the years, with the main reason being Gary’s behavior towards them. Through this, we get an infusion of common human conflict that the audience can become attached to (as describe in the character/acting paragraph above). Along with the drama caused by their friendship, we are also layered with the ‘British’ humor created by their witty dialogue and allure of their individualistic mannerisms. This helps provide raw emotion, as you feel for everyone’s gripe about the situation, but also have empathy for Gary and his fragile life. As the film continues following their Pub crawl, we eventually start to peel back the layers of the surreal elements of the abnormal behavior of the town’s citizens. What you come to find out, everyone in town has been replaced by ‘robots’. Once this revelation happens, the film flips its script, and we see the fantastical elements of Edgar Wright’s imagination get infused alongside the friends’ journey. With this ‘sci-fi’ element introduced, the film’s pacing increases, as we get some unique strange ‘scenarios’ and some well choreograph fight scenes. Along with the new themes added to the film, we are also paralleled with a lot of social themes dealing with modern society and reliance on technology. While not beating you over the head over what is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ with the advancement in technology, having these elements of modernism attached to the ‘sci-fi’ themes helps you believe the unbelievable. Even as this becomes part of the story, the friend’s conflict still take the forefront, helping keep the film grounded through all the ridiculousness. Once the film comes to its third act, the humor is strong, the action is intense, and all you can wonder is what will be the consequence once they reach ‘The World’s End’. When the climax happens, you see a culmination of the subtle social issues, friendship conflict and surreal elements come together. In the end, you will either feel like you enjoyed the journey, or not understand what just happen in this film.
The visuals of the film can be seen as two separate elements. When it comes to the overall atmosphere created, we get the typical scenery that is shown through the guy’s hometown, as well as the buildings and Pubs. Everything here will give you a ‘common’ feel, keeping with the film’s ‘realism’. The second element of the films visual is the creation of the robots. This aspect is beyond common. With this, you are given an imaginative perspective, which is both riveting and shocking to see on the screen. The score is very dull when compared to the rest of the film.
Overall, The World’s End will appeal to a select group of film aficionado’s, but even so, it’s still a great film. With some decent humor, surreal action and grounded themes, you will be entertained. If you’re a fan of the combo of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright, you will love this film. Even if you’re not a fan, I’d say give it a chance, you will be mildly surprised.