The World's End
2.5/4
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan, Rosamund Pike
Rated R for Pervasive Language including Sexual References
Everyone seems to "get" British humor but me. I'm not a Monty Python fan, and I didn't care for "A Fish Called Wanda." In both of those, I saw the jokes but found them to be so lacking in life and energy that I wasn't laughing. The same goes for "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz." Could see the humor, but wasn't laughing. Which brings us to "The World's End," the final film in the trilogy which Simon Pegg and co-writer/director Edgar Wright dubbed, "The Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy." It's the best of the three, with more than a few laugh out loud moments, but it's too inconsistent for me to recommend.
The plot sounds like "The Hangover" meets last years misfire "The Watch." Five friends reunite twenty three years later to attempt a legendary bar crawl after failing the first time around. The premise is golden enough that it really doesn't need the sci-fi action bent, although that aspect of the film is hardly a failure.
Gary King (Pegg) is a thirty something man-child. He dresses like a rock-star from the 80's, and has what one could charitably call "poor" impulse control. Anyway, the film opens up with him telling the members of his NA meeting about how after graduating from high school, he and his four friends tried to conquer "The Golden Mile," a night of binge drinking at twelve pubs. When someone points out that he didn't finish it, he feels the sense of incompleteness. So he gathers the old gang to try again. Of course, his friends Andy (Frost), Steven (Considine), Oliver (Freeman) and Peter (Marsan) are in no way able to do this, much less have the desire. Nevertheless, Gary lies and cajoles until they all return home. But something is odd, and as the night goes on, things are going to get stranger when they realize that the townspeople have suddenly become violent robots (who aren't robots).
The film is at times very funny. The thought of a meek Eddie Marsan beating the crap out of a bully is more hilarious than it sounds (Marsan is known for playing dark and angry characters...see "Happy Go Lucky" for an example). Some of the wordplay is also amusing, and there's a bit straight out of "Burke & Hare," where Gary can't finish a drink because the robots keep breaking his glass. But the humor is hit and miss; sometimes it doesn't fly, other times its because the accents are too thick for a yank like me to understand.
The cast is a "who's who" of British character actors, most of whom have made some inroads in the US. Pegg is in the new "Star Trek" movies, Frost is known for his Pegg/Wright movies, Paddy Considine was in the arthouse hit "In America," Martin Freeman is the new Bilbo, Eddie Marsan is Lestrade in the new "Sherlock Holmes" movies. All of them do their jobs, often playing against type. David Bradley, Filch from the "Harry Potter" movies, shows up as the obligatory batty guy who knows what's going on (Wright has some clever fun with this stock character). And Pierce Brosnan shows up for a few scenes; Brosnan rarely plays comic roles, which is a shame because he has a gift for it ("The Matador" ranks as one of his best, and funniest, performances).
Look, this isn't great entertainment. It's not even a great comedy. But I'm sure that fans of "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz" will enjoy themselves, and non-fans who were dragged along won't be bored.
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan, Rosamund Pike
Rated R for Pervasive Language including Sexual References
Everyone seems to "get" British humor but me. I'm not a Monty Python fan, and I didn't care for "A Fish Called Wanda." In both of those, I saw the jokes but found them to be so lacking in life and energy that I wasn't laughing. The same goes for "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz." Could see the humor, but wasn't laughing. Which brings us to "The World's End," the final film in the trilogy which Simon Pegg and co-writer/director Edgar Wright dubbed, "The Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy." It's the best of the three, with more than a few laugh out loud moments, but it's too inconsistent for me to recommend.
The plot sounds like "The Hangover" meets last years misfire "The Watch." Five friends reunite twenty three years later to attempt a legendary bar crawl after failing the first time around. The premise is golden enough that it really doesn't need the sci-fi action bent, although that aspect of the film is hardly a failure.
Gary King (Pegg) is a thirty something man-child. He dresses like a rock-star from the 80's, and has what one could charitably call "poor" impulse control. Anyway, the film opens up with him telling the members of his NA meeting about how after graduating from high school, he and his four friends tried to conquer "The Golden Mile," a night of binge drinking at twelve pubs. When someone points out that he didn't finish it, he feels the sense of incompleteness. So he gathers the old gang to try again. Of course, his friends Andy (Frost), Steven (Considine), Oliver (Freeman) and Peter (Marsan) are in no way able to do this, much less have the desire. Nevertheless, Gary lies and cajoles until they all return home. But something is odd, and as the night goes on, things are going to get stranger when they realize that the townspeople have suddenly become violent robots (who aren't robots).
The film is at times very funny. The thought of a meek Eddie Marsan beating the crap out of a bully is more hilarious than it sounds (Marsan is known for playing dark and angry characters...see "Happy Go Lucky" for an example). Some of the wordplay is also amusing, and there's a bit straight out of "Burke & Hare," where Gary can't finish a drink because the robots keep breaking his glass. But the humor is hit and miss; sometimes it doesn't fly, other times its because the accents are too thick for a yank like me to understand.
The cast is a "who's who" of British character actors, most of whom have made some inroads in the US. Pegg is in the new "Star Trek" movies, Frost is known for his Pegg/Wright movies, Paddy Considine was in the arthouse hit "In America," Martin Freeman is the new Bilbo, Eddie Marsan is Lestrade in the new "Sherlock Holmes" movies. All of them do their jobs, often playing against type. David Bradley, Filch from the "Harry Potter" movies, shows up as the obligatory batty guy who knows what's going on (Wright has some clever fun with this stock character). And Pierce Brosnan shows up for a few scenes; Brosnan rarely plays comic roles, which is a shame because he has a gift for it ("The Matador" ranks as one of his best, and funniest, performances).
Look, this isn't great entertainment. It's not even a great comedy. But I'm sure that fans of "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz" will enjoy themselves, and non-fans who were dragged along won't be bored.
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