It’s hard to recapture past glory, live
up to our youthful potential and/or the expectations others have of us. These hobgoblins
of the adult psyche, which we sense most acutely as middle-age approaches, plague
not only Gary King (Simon Pegg) but the film he dominates: The World’s End. Not that this latest release from the team of Simon
Pegg and director Edgar Wright is bad, no, far from it! However, this high-energy comedy feels a lot like
Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life;
hilarious yet forced, lacking that spark which made its predecessors so
outlandishly enjoyable.
Story-wise, The World’s End is essentially an Invasion of the Body Snatchers remake, with the feel of having been
written between questions at a pub quiz. Gary King, a man stuck in perpetual teen-aged
rebellion, gathers four old friends to their sleepy hometown of Newton Haven to
conquer an epic pub crawl they bungled some 20 odd years earlier. The night
starts with Gary’s mates, Andy (Nick Frost), Peter (Eddie Marsen), Steve (Paddy
Considine) and Oliver (Martin Freeman) all basically humoring their “loser” pal
from the past. Thankfully, just as the rebukes and relationships edge towards
genuine adult drama, this film launches into its true nature: an apocalyptic sci-fi
comedy. The five friends find themselves running from pub to pub (it’s their
only plan) evading blue blooded non-robot simulants of the townsfolk. These “simulants”
are put together like life-sized G.I. Joe and Barbie dolls (or Action Man if
you’re reading this in the UK), a concept both imaginative and disturbing. It
seems while everyone was off building grown-up lives complete with careers,
kids and divorces; and Gary was off doing, well nothing really; a quiet alien
invasion has been taking place not only in Newton Haven, but all over the
world!
Ultimately,
it is up to a very drunk Gary to make the case for mankind and convince the
homogenizing and exceedingly polite aliens that Earth doesn’t want to be
groomed to join their galactic community. Gary’s words speak not only of humanity
but of himself as well: yes we’re uncouth; yes we’ve spent much of our time on
the planet so far screwing around; and yes, we know what’s best for us and we still
don’t do it! BUT we want to be free, to do what we want to do, to have fun and
get loaded and, well who the hell are you to tell us what we should be or do?!
Piss off!
Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright have
said The World’s End is the
conclusion of a trilogy with their previous films, Shaun of the Dead and Hot
Fuzz. The connective tissue between the three is evident and there is a
full-circle sense of finality to The
World’s End. I will miss this team that made zombies funny, British coppers
bad-asses and a pub crawl a world saving odyssey. Perhaps destiny will reunite
Pegg and Wright; it was all over with Meaning
of Life but it wasn’t with Return of
the Jedi. (Hmm, Cornetto Wars,
Episode One, The Phantom Whippy?)
The World’s End is great fun, with rapid fire humor,
fights with life-sized action figure people and good running gags; but it is
hardly the back-of-the-net goal that was the first romantic comedy with zombies.
This film came dangerously close to being boring, with a group of friends
gathering, re-opening old wounds and dealing with the perennial under-achiever.
The first thirty minutes or so dragged as we got to know who these five were,
have evolved into and what subtle animosities they harbor for one another. Thankfully,
good action, comedy and solid writing came through in the third act and all that
early, banal dialogue even turned out to be important. Maybe I’m being too hard
on Pegg and Wright because of my unrealistic expectations of their work. It is
hard to live up to your potential and other people’s expectations, especially
once you’ve created a reputation for excellence. Like Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life, Pegg & Wright’s “Blood and
Ice Cream” finale may be damned to be an under-appreciated good time, judged by
fans more for its failings than for its accomplishments.
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