Le Dernier Pub avant la fin du monde

The movie-making team of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright has been one of the biggest success stories of British cinema of the past decade. With "Shaun of the Dead" (2004) and "Hot Fuzz" (2007), the trio demonstrated originality, ingenuity, and most significantly, capable of drawing a large, appreciative audience. Now they're back with the long-awaited third movie of what's become unofficially known as the "Cornetto trilogy." Like it's predecessors, director Edgar Wright loves paying homage to American cinema; "Shaun" pays its respects to George Romero, "Fuzz" nods its head to over the top action, buddy flicks, and "World's End" takes a page from our classic American sci-fi films.

In "The World's End," 20 years after attempting an epic pub-crawl, five childhood friends reunite when one of them becomes hell-bent on trying the drinking marathon once again. Once convinced to stage an encore by Gary King (Simon Pegg), a 40-year- old man trapped in the mindset of his mid 20's, drags his reluctant friends back to their hometown, and once again attempt to reach the fabled pub - The World's End.

"The World's End" plays on the notion that any time you return to your old stomping grounds, changes are inevitable. Upon returning to their small town roots—a place so boring it boasts about having the first roundabout in all of England—the crew notices that things are a little strange. As it turns out, the town residents are now blue- blooded alien robots. Pretty soon, the group of friends find they are not only fighting to recapture who they once were, but to preserve who they are.

"The World's End" follows similar thematic and structural paths as the other films in the trilogy. While it is definitely intended as a satirical spoof on one level, it also works just as well as a fully functional sci-fi story. You have elements of body snatching, invasions, and more than a few overt nods to John Carpenter's classic "They Live" (1998), in the way the aliens integrate into their society and take over. It's satire in such a loving fashion that it comes across as infectiously charming.

If there is anything to criticize here, maybe it's that the genre is a bit more skewered and less defined than in its predecessors. However, "The World's End" does cap an unofficial trilogy, and the grievance is overly critical given the nature of the movies. Long-time fans of the trilogy will appreciate the reversal of roles, casting Pegg as the selfish screw-up, and Frost as the one who has it together. This allows Pegg to fully unleash his gift for gab, and for Frost to show off his considerable skill for physical comedy.

With great gags, better fights, and fan pleasing cameos, "The World's End" is exactly the sort of British-accented, genre-blending pleasure we've come to expect from its creative trio, and we can only anticipate to what the future holds.

Saw it at a midnight premier last night (free Cornettos were given out!) and myself and the rest of the audience were laughing throughout, having a thoroughly enjoyable time. I thought it was great, definitely on a par with Hot Fuzz, though - to me - not quite as good as Shaun of the Dead, which is fair enough as it is one of my all-time favourites. It is definitely a worthy close to the "trilogy" though, and it stands up well against the other two.

Amongst the highlights were seeing another former Bond actor, even if it was in a small role, along with various other regulars from the past films and Spaced - Tyres, Julia Deaking (Marsha), Bill Nighy's voice, Mark Heap, et al.

With a plot as ludicrous as this one the film relies on the strength of it's leads to succeed, and they pull it off admirably. I liked that there was a role reversal of Pegg and Frost's usual character dynamic, with Frost especially noteworthy in his performance. The lads have clearly come a long way over the years. Pegg is clearly having a whale of a time, and carries us the audience along with him. Having such a talented group of back-up actors in Marsan, Considine and Freeman helps massively too.

I feel they missed a trick by not using the line "You've got blue on you", though.

I was lucky enough to score some tickets to the NZ premier of this. We were pumped full of food and booze before the movie and i realized not ten minutes in that i needed the bathroom. Only i found the movie far to funny to want to leave at any point.

There were some real classic moments in this movie, honestly, the whole theatre was in fits of laughter almost the whole way through the film. There was even some cheering (more than once)

Edgar really has his business sorted with the directing thing, and Pegg, Frost and Freeman really help to bring this movie together!

I recommend this film, especially if you just want a good laugh! Personally, Frost was my fave in this one, he had the greatest moments!! In regards to the acting, It was all wonderful, i believed every second. This film was on par!

I feel really privileged to have been lucky enough to see it before a whole lot of people, and I hope that everyone else likes it as much as everyone in our theatre did :)

10/10

Five friends return to their hometown to relive a pub crawl they never finished in their youth, however, they find their town has been invaded by interstellar beings 'Blanks' and the crawl could literary kill them.

Director/writer Edger Wright returns with this British set, sci-fi, beer-fuelled pub crawl yarn. Once again like Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Hot Fuzz (2007) what makes this so likable is the Simon Pegg and Nick Frost combination - the two have great chemistry, they're not only funny but warm too. There's plenty of camaraderie between the five friends mixed with the humorous restlessness of a school reunion.

The on location feel gives it an air of realism and captures a current British small town perfectly. Wright once again shows that he's at the top of his game, the action scenes are wonderfully executed and the effects are superb. The soundtrack oozes nostalgia and accompanying music score is fitting. Some jokes my go over some international viewer's heads, but the majority cater for all.

The first half of the film injects the most one liners and comedy output with the old gang rejoining and their return to the town, while the second is more action orientated when they go head to head with the invaders. The beings glowing eyes are reminiscent of Demons (1985) while the set up feels like Invasion of the Body Snatcher (1956/78) only with a twist and the closing confrontation plays out like an episode of Star Trek/Doctor Who followed by an outlandish flash-forward.

There's plenty of homage's thrown in just for fun, Pegg as washed up excitable alcoholic/drug intoxicated Gary King plays against the usual nice guy, here he's a man you love to hate, you really want him to succeed. Frost is kick-ass lovable. It's strength is that you care about the fate of the characters. The supporting cast are excellent including (surprisingly well cast) Rosamund Pike, Martin Freeman to name a few and a surprise cameo by an ex-Bond.

If Shaun was on the money, and Hot Fuzz was wordy, The World's End is somewhere in between. Highly recommended.

"We're going to see this through to the bitter end. Or... lager end." Gary King (Simon Pegg)

Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright are at it again satirizing pop culture, this time with an entertaining send up of zombie movies (even their own spoof, Shaun of the Dead) and boy-man buddy vacations like Hangover. Five middle-aged blokes, led by the perennially immature Gary King (still the "King," he'd like to think), return after 20 years to their hometown to finish the crawl to the 12th and final pub, The World's End.

The obvious allegory is fun to follow as robotic replicas of actual humans try to take over the world. Their mission is to make earth and humans perfect, a goal any lame brain knows is impossible. Aliens have been trying to conquer earth since movies began with little success given our need for independence and ingenuity finding the alien weaknesses.

The real strength of The World's End is in the dialogue with its rapid repartee. For example:

Gary King: And here we go! Just like the five musketeers. Steven Prince: Three musketeers wasn't it? Gary King: Well nobody knows how many there were really do they? Oliver: You do know that The Three Musketeers was a fiction right, written by Alexander Dumas. Gary King: A lot of people are saying that about the bible these days. Steven Prince: What, that it was written by Alexander Dumas. Gary King: Don't be daft, Steve; it was written by Jesus.

Covering authorship and ignorance issues while being amusingly clueless is the endearment of Pegg and Wright's democratic humor—after all, none of the players is exempt from stupidity.

Perhaps more importantly, however, is the thematic point about never being able to go home again. The protagonists grew up in the same town, and returning to finish their crawl reveals that no one remembers them! Of course, since the townies are almost all robots, they couldn't remember them anyway. Yet the point is figuratively well taken: Nobody cares about you after you're gone.