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 (082913)
"The World's End" is the concluding chapter of the so-called "Cornetto Trilogy,"
a loose group of wild, genre-scrambling comedies from England that began with
the hilarious rom-com-turned-zombie spectacular "Shaun of the Dead" (2004) and
continued with the equally brilliant "Hot Fuzz" (2007), which fused together
elements from the kind of genteel murder mysteries that the British thrive on
with high-octane American cop thrillers like "Lethal Weapon" and "Cobra." This
time around, director Edgar Wright and co-stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have
come up with a project even more ambitious than their previous efforts and if it
doesn't quite measure up to their previous collaborations, it is still smarter,
more complex and flat-out funnier than most other comedies of recent vintage
that you or I could name.
The conclusion of the much-loved Trilogy and practically a tribute to the notion
of putting away childish things, The World's End is what happens when old
friendships and an adoration of the past aren't enough to face turning 40. Pegg
is the central figure once again as Gary King, the leader of his high school
pack back in the early 90s now dead set on reuniting the gang and finally
completing the Golden Mile, a pub crawl through 12 stops in their sleepy
hometown of Newton Haven. In a quick opening voiceover and montage Gary
remembers they first time they tried the Golden Mile as teenagers as, without
any irony, the best night of his life. It's not a surprise, exactly, that it's
then revealed he's telling this story in the midst of an AA meeting, but a hint
that the carousing and reminiscing to come will include a consistently dark
edge.
Gary, now older but still wearing the trench coat and dyed black hair of his
17-year-old self, rounds up his old pals in what he thinks is a rescue mission
into their dull lives--Oliver (Martin Freeman) sells real estate, Steven (Paddy
Considine) is recently divorced and Peter (Eddie Marsan) is overwhelmed by
family obligations. Director Edgar Wright knows perfectly well we're waiting for
the Pegg-Frost reunion and saves Frost for last as Andy, a high-powered lawyer
who hasn't just moved on from Gary, but actively loathes him. The reasons for
that, and the dark tangle that still unites these former friends, take a while
to emerge. But once again, Wright, Pegg (who co-wrote the script) and Frost are
emphasizing that playtime is over. Shaun prevented the zombie apocalypse and
Nicholas Angel learned to be a better cop, but some wounds from the past never
heal over.
Once the gang returns to Newton Haven and the pub crawl begins the film takes a
turn that's only unexpected if you haven't seen Wright's previous genre mash
ups; the town has apparently been taken over by humanoid robots who seem normal,
if a little stiff, until they try to rip off your head. There's a conspiracy
plot, Pierce Brosnan gets involved, and it all ends to a showdown at,
inevitably, The World's End, the last stop on the crawl.
The blend of genre and character is weaker here that it's been in any Wright
film, and though the pod people invasion works fine as a metaphor for losing
touch with your childhood touchstones, it doesn't achieve enough symmetry with
Gary's alcoholism, a much bigger
problem than his crushing nostalgia. The robots are well designed, with glowing
blue eyes and mouths and some intimidating physical skills, and the fight scenes
are nicely shot by Wright, if not a bit too repetitive. But when the mayhem
slows down and we return to the issues between the five guys, the transition is
awkward; in all of Wright's previous films, we learned about our characters
through action, but in The World's End the two are on separate, equally pleasant
tracks.
Luckily, and inevitably, the movie is very, very funny to make up for its
awkward spots, and Pegg and Frost benefit enormously in being joined by a gang
of equally able actors. Marsan continues to be one of the best character actors
working, and get probably the most out of the fewest lines as the meek Peter,
who has both a heartbreaking encounter with a former bully and gets to try out
some action chops. Freeman loosens up beautifully from his Bilbo/John Watson
work, even though he's playing a stuffed shirt here too, and Considine emerges
as the surprising romantic hero when his old crush-- and Gary's old fling-- Sam
(Rosamund Pike) shows up in one pub. The high school relationships between the
pals are pretty thinly sketched in the beginning of the film, but by the midway
point we understand these guys, and they're worth following even through the
chaotic robot chases that start to feel like a distraction from the real story.
Pegg and Frost remain at the center, though, especially when Andy's anger with
Gary comes to a head, and near the end they share the film's most intense scene,
grappling with each other and screaming and crying-- all the things that male
friends in comedies never, ever do. The scene is an odd fit with the
highs-stakes action that surrounds them, but it's also a powerful reminder of
how far these two friends have come, and how--with Wright always completing
their trio--they've created so many different, affecting portraits of cinematic
friendship. The World's End isn't likely to be the end of this partnership, and
as a finale it's a bit weaker than the previous two entries. But it serves as a
bittersweet, marvelously effective end of a certain goofy era, when friends
banding together were enough to save the world.
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