Viewed in
2013
Formats
Movie theater.
Premise
Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright complete their "Cornetto Trilogy" about five 40-year olds who return to their childhood hometown for a pub crawl, only to find out something sinister has taken over their old stomping grounds.
Loved
Nick Frost.
Liked
Pretty much all the comedy, unexpected dynamic fight scenes.
Thoughts
Overall, a light-hearted and funny movie.
My favorite moments usually involved portly Frost. His stern restraint made a juicy contrast to Pegg's man-child mania... until Frost goes off the deep end, turning into the Incredi-drunk Hulk in tweed. I loved his dropping the People's Elbow on baddies, and downing shots like Popeye gulping spinach. Pegg also had a laugh out loud scene in which he fails to drink beer during a brawl.
It's been a while since I've seen Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, but I felt this delivered the most laughs. Unlike their first two titles, this one wasn't much of a parody, which freed the writing from the shackles of making jokes within a trope. The comedy was able to roam around to find laughs from everywhere, from slapstick violence to witty wordplay to wacky characters. I'm sure I missed some inside jokes, but pretty much all the gags landed laughs.
While Pegg-Frost were the main chums, the rest of the cast was full of recognizable actors, including Argus Filch (playing a weirdo of course), smexy Pierce Brosnan, and shifty Martin Freeman (who unfortunately got the short end of the stick on screen time). Bill Nighy also made a cameo that wasn't funny until his last line. I liked that the minor characters were distinguishable with decent subplots that I cared about.
Personally, I was surprised by the elaborately choreographed fight scenes. There were quite a few polished "one take" shots of massive brawls involving multiple players that were chaotic yet easy to follow/enjoy. Normally I find slick action pieces in comedy a momentum-killer. So kudos to the film makers for finding creative ways to keep the humor, characters, and tone humming during the energetic donnybrooks that looked like "Bring me another Smurf!" meme come to life.
The weakest link was the last act. It just felt weird. While I liked the characters, they didn't do enough in the hero's journey department, so when they tried to give an emotional payoff between Pegg and Frost, it didn't felt justified. In addition, the movie still succumbed to pressures of summer explosions and post-apocalyptic world-building. Lastly, a nitpick. While the brawls were enjoyable, it was a tad implausible that four suburbanites and an alcoholic in their forties could skillfully execute moves usually reserved for John Woo flicks and WWE matches.
Thanks to funny writing, characters, and performances, The World's End leaves the summer's end on a high note.
