The World's End - Ro-bottoms Up!

Shaun of the Dead, 2004 cult comedy from Messrs. Pegg, Frost, and Wright. A love letter to classic zombie flicks the film was an instant hit. Fast forward three years and 2007 saw the collaborative trio reunite for their homage to the cop flick, Hot Fuzz. Now, another six years on we are brought The World's End. Absolutely adoring Shaun of the Dead, and having a fair amount of affection for Hot Fuzz, I was therefore giddy as a cured diabetic in a sweet shop when I toddled along to The World's End last week.

The film tells of five friends returning to their home town after twenty years to complete the famous 'golden mile' - twelve pubs across a one mile stretch through the heart of the town, culminating in a pint at the legendary 'World's End'. Headed up by Gary (Pegg), it soon becomes apparent that all but him have moved on with their livest, Gary still wearing the same clothes and driving the same car he had when he was seventeen. Cue old tensions and grievances bubbling to the surface - not to mention the fact that the entire town has been taken over by homicidal robots 'replacing' their human hosts.

The structure of the film reminds me a bit of From Dusk Til Dawn. That begins as a movie about a family being taken hostage, then suddenly merges into a vampire flick. Similarly, The World's End begins very much as a straight comedy about five old friends on a pub crawl. It is quite a way into the film before the first robot appears, launching the film into more of a sci-fi territory. Whether this is detrimental to the film or not I'm not sure. Perhaps they should have stuck with either one or the other. Personally I felt the film was stronger before the robots appeared. When they did, it felt a bit too similar to Shaun of the Dead, battling 'possessed' humans while at the same time trying to reach a pub at the same time - zombies/robots, The Winchester/The World's End - it just felt all a bit unoriginal. Despite this, it still manages to pack a comedic punch with some genuinely laugh out loud moments.

Where the film shines though is in the cast. After the success of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz managed to pull in some pretty big names (including cameos from Peter Jackson and Cate Blanchett). The World's End is no different, being a feast of British actors. Aside from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, the main quintet is completed by Eddie Marsan (Sherlock Holmes, Tyrannosaur), Paddy Considine (Hot Fuzz, Dead Man's Shoes) and Bilbo Baggins himself, Martin Freeman. Rosamund Pike also rears her head as Freeman's sister and one-time conquest of Pegg. Bill Nighy provides his vocal talents while perhaps the biggest casting coup comes in the shape of 007 himself. Having nabbed Timothy Dalton for Hot Fuzz, Pierce Brosnan this time makes an appearance as the boys former teacher (interestingly reuniting him with his Die Another Day conquest Pike). The make or break of the film though comes down to Pegg and Frost. What is interesting here is that the roles have been inverted. In the first of the 'Cornetto' trilogy Pegg was the 'sensible' one and Frost the 'idiot'. This time however, Pegg is the reckless one and Frost the straight man. The chemistry between the two worked so well in the first films that I don't know why they changed it this time round. The characters don't have any banter, and Frost spends most of the time hating Pegg. There is a glimmer of hope towards the end however, in a very moving scene between the two that brings some pathos and depth to the film.

The film's poster (above) invites you to get annihilated. While on one hand you do submit to the foolery of the film, there being some genuine moments of hilarity, one cannot help exiting the cinema feeling somewhat nostalgic for Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. The film culminates the 'Cornetto' trilogy and can stand proud amongst its two predecessors, yet just falling short of matching their greatness.