The World's End

When it comes to good humor in the face of danger and the end of the world, I must say that the Brits have a slight lead over the Americans (This is the End), proving that if your material is solid, just about anything can be funny.

Though The World's End falls short of Shaun of the Dead's brilliance, it's a worthy addition to the Cornetto Trilogy, far surpassing Hot Fuzz.

Simon Pegg stars as Gary King, a man living the past determined to revive some old fun, taking his friends on a journey in their hometown to go drinking through 12 pubs, ultimately ending at The World's End. To say Gary is the only one with any interest in this goal would be an understatement.

Slowly (very slowly) but surely, the old gang realizes that no one from their town is acting normal as no one recognizes or really gives a shit about them. And when some of the members of the town begin leaking blue goo as their heads are ripped off, it's clear something is up.

I've said many times that you can only have as much fun in a movie as your main stars allow you to, and The World End's cast is clearly on board for a party. All of the performances are full of fun. Simon Pegg is stellar as the lead has-been who wants nothing more to bask in former glory despite no one else being in his boat. All of the opposite stars are great yings to his yang, most noteably Nick Frost as Andy, the leader of the IDGAF crew.

Though end of the world/disaster movies feel far from fresh right now especially considering This is the End was just realized two months earlier, The World's End manages to work the material in an inventive way. Part of this could be due to the effectively used sense of ignorance throughout. Everyone else in the town has been overtaken by alien robots and yet the leads are clearly the ones with their heads the farthest in space as it takes forever for them to get a clue. Like in Shaun of the Dead, you can always have a blast even when fighting for your life and luckily The World's End despite having themes of growing up, moving on from teenage escapades, and fear of commitment, never seems to take itself seriously.

My only fault with The World's End is that similar to This is The End, after a while, you start to feel the burn and stretch of some of the material. After the climax hits and all hell breaks loose, there seems to be a bit of meandering until both hit the home run (which both achieve in might I add). At times though, The World's End makes you feel like you're getting nowhere and running in as many circles as the leads do.

Despite some nitpicks, The World's End is still a solid comedy well worth a view. If the world ever were to be overtaken by aliens and robots I would only hope we would have nearly as much fun as The World's End makes the situation seem.

3/4