The World's End

The World's End

 

It all started in 2004 with Shaun of the Dead with the strawberry flavoured Cornetto and its red wrapper representing the blood and gory elements, then in 2007 there was Hot Fuzz with the original flavoured Cornetto with its blue wrapper representing the police, and then came The World's End in 2013 with the mint flavoured Cornetto and its green wrapper representing the little green men or aliens.   They are the Three Flavours of Cornetto Trilogy, though none of the films are actually connected, they feature many of the same actors and themes from film to film.  The World's End is a comedic social science fiction/horror film that pays homage to classics like Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, Children Of The Damned, and Day Of The Triffids.  

The World's End, just as the rest of the films in the Three Flavours of Cornetto Trilogy is directed by Edgar Wright, and written by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg.  The film is distributed by Universal Internationally, and Focus Features in the USA.   Like the other films in the series, The World's End was both a box office success as well as a critical success, making $46.1 million on a budget of $20 million, and received generally positive reviews by the critics, and holds a high score on film review sites like Rotten Tomatoes.

 The World's End stars Simon Pegg as Gary King (Thomas Law as Young Gary), Nick Frost as Andy Knightley (Zachary Bailess as Young Andy), Paddy Considine as Steven Prince (Jasper Levine as Young Steven), Martin Freeman as Oliver "O-Man" Chamberlain (Luke Bromley as Young Oliver), and Eddie Marsan as Peter Page (James Tarpey as Young Peter) who are five friends from high school who attempted a pub crawl of 12 pubs but failed, and now as they are nearing forty Gary King, who failed to mature and is stuck reliving his youth, talks his friends into attempting the pub crawl again.  They reluctantly join him.   The film also stars Rosamund Pike as Sam Chamberlain (Flora Slorach as Young Sam) who is Oliver's sister, Pierce Brosnan as Guy Shepherd, Bill Nighy as the voice of The Network, David Bradley as "Mad" Basil, Darren Boyd as Shane Hawkins (Richard Hadfield as Young Shane) who bullied Peter as a kid, Michael Smiley as Trevor "The Reverend" Green, Sophie Evans as Becky Salt, and Rose Reynolds as Tracy Benson.   In casting, Edgar Wright said that it would feature all of the actors from the previous two films, and they were able to get the following actors from Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz to return:
These actors were in all three films: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Julia Deakin, Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy, Rafe Spall, and Patricia Franklin. 
These actors were in Shaun of the Dead and World's End: Reece Shearsmith, Michael Smiley, and Nicola Cunningham.
These Actors were in Hot Fuzz and World's End: David Bradley, Paddy Considine, and Alice Lowe.
I love that kind of dedication to casting, and the cast in the film was great, everyone are top notch in both comedy and action.

On the surface this film is a science fiction/horror comedy, however the film deals with much deeper issues as well.   This film deals with a few issues, first of all is the homogenization of commercial society, a Starbucksing of local pubs and coffee shops for example.  But on a deeper level the film is about struggling to grow up and find your place in the world.  All of the friends struggle, as we all do in a way, but then there is Simon Pegg's character of Gary King.   King was never able to move past being the "cool guy" in high school, he never really found anything else going for him, and he is emotionally stunted and never really developed into a functioning adult.  He is inappropriate because he never matured like others did, he is still mentally the kid he was in high school, and I am sure that there are some psychology majors, or psychiatrists out there that would put a name to what is holding him back, but that is another discussion really.   I kind of relate to the character, though I was never cool in high school, I was a total loser, but I relate in the fact that because of an abusive childhood I was never able to really be a kid, and I was stunted maturity-wise, and lived out what should have been my teenage years instead in my 20s and early 30s.  Much like the song "What's My Age Again?" by Blink 182 really.   And there is Gary King (much like myself) in his late 30s trying to figure out where he belongs in this world.  His friends all have jobs, houses, spouses, families, and "normal" lives, but here he is still partying, but what do you do when the party is over?   King comes to the realization that maye, just maybe if he can finish the pub crawl, then he can move on, and later we find out what it was that drove him to the conclusion (caution warning there is a brief reference to self-harm/suicide attempt in this film, if that is a trigger for you, please be aware of that).    This film in part is King's quest to finish the pub crawl to find himself, as an attempt to figure out how to grow up and be the adult that everyone else his age has become.   Then there are aliens, and when they get to the final pub "The World's End" the name is more prophetic than in originally seems.   This film does a really good job at looking at some pretty serious and heavy issues, without ever stop being fun and exciting, which is a really hard task to achieve.   Then mix in some amazing acting, and great looking special effects, and paying respects to classic science fiction.  Like in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, there is something wrong with King's hometown, but will the five friends be able to overcome their own obstacles, and survive to find out the truth behind it all? 

I highly recommend this film, really all three films of the Flavours of Cornetto Trilogy are must-see films.   This is a film that has depth, as well as comedy, it has elements of classic horror and science fiction, while also being relevant to the current state of the world.   I think the first time I watched this film I might have kind of quickly dismissed it, but upon watching it this time, it really resonated with me, as the world has moved on, and I feel left behind, kind of like Simon Pegg's character.  This is just an over all great film, on so many levels, I felt like laughing out loud, crying, and terrified as the film progressed.   If you have not yet seen The World's End, I highly recommend finding a copy of it and adding it to your collection.