The World’s End (R)

As the final installment of a loosely connected and well-received trilogy of “comedy/_____” films from Director and Co-writer Edgar Wright, his writing partner and star Simon Pegg, and Pegg’s friend and fellow actor Nick Frost, “The World’s End” has some built in good will from fans of the pseudo-franchise. Not content to follow up the critical darlings of “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” with just another comedy, Messrs. Wright, Pegg, and Frost bring us a movie that, if it does what it says on the tin, promises to be nothing short of apocalyptic. Unfortunately, it feels like they may have bitten off more Cornetto than they could chew.

Much like the aforementioned “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz,” “The World’s End” presents us with people who don’t see eye-to-eye for the majority of the 109 minute running time. 20 years ago five friends Gary (Pegg), Andy (Frost), Oliver, Steven (previous Cornetto collaborators Martin Freeman & Paddy Considine) and Peter (Cornetto series newcomer) graduated from high school and attempted their town’s legendary pub crawl, The Golden Mile. They failed, and four of them have not looked back and have moved away and on with their lives; but the brash, irresponsible, and flat-out unlikable Gary decides to get the gang back together to try and attempt the crawl one more time. Lured in by Gary’s lies and surface charm, the five men, now in their late ’30s, return home for the crawl. However there aren’t any zombies or model village sociopaths this time. Instead the plot revolves around “Invasion of the Body Snatchers“-esque automatons of the townspeople. Automatons (not “robots”) that bleed blue blood and can easily swap body parts between them.

The comedy is spot on, the script practically crackles with humor, and the cast all bring their A game. Unfortunately, the comedy and the performances are practically the only parts of the movie that work. The script can’t decide if this is a Gary movie or an ensemble movie. Gary is far too obnoxious to stomach as a protagonist. Movies can get away with an unlikable main character, but a character who is a malicious boor to his closest friends is going to be a tough sell; especially when Pegg is doing such a great job of fully realizing this character. And if this is an ensemble movie, they don’t fully commit to this until about an hour into the film, meaning you haven’t had enough time to get emotionally attached to the rest of the crew before you’re expected to follow them as a collective protagonist.

After seeing his first three films (the first two Cornetto movies and “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World“), it’s obvious that Wright can direct some incredibly inventive action sequences, so the fact that the longest fight sequence in the movie (and each one after it) feels boring and repetitive is a very unpleasant surprise. The first two fights are great. They’re unique and engaging and feel new. But by the third fight, when you realize that for all of the flash, none of their efforts actually make any sort of a difference, you’re ready for them to move along.

And then we have the themes, and there are a boat load of them, they just aren’t ever fully realized or followed up on. The ugly side of globalization, individuality vs.conformity, the idea that you can’t go home again, the crippling nature of addiction, the power of friendship; and those are just the ones I could remember off the top of my head. Wright and Pegg give us a short exploration into each one, but never do we get a sense of what they’re trying to say about each. A little ambiguity is a good thing, but leaving every single one of your themes open to interpretation makes me wonder if they had anything in mind above the pub crawl and aliens.

Don’t get me wrong, “The World’s End” is a great, laugh-out-loud comedy. But it doesn’t have all of the components necessary to make it a great film. It’s a shame, that after two delicious entries, the final flavor of Cornetto is also the blandest. But still, bland ice cream is still better than no ice cream at all.

– by Jared Moore